McVay claims Austin’s role with Rams will increase moving forward

Despite all of the frustrations from the first seven games, it looks like Sean McVay hopes to see Tavon Austin take on an increased role with the Los Angeles Rams in the second half of the regular season.

As much as Los Angeles Rams fans would have preferred to see the team find a landing spot for Tavon Austin before Tuesday’s trade deadline, nobody should truly be surprised by the former first-round pick sticking around for the remainder of the season. When looking at the foolish decision by the Rams to reward Austin with a ridiculous four-year, $42 million contract before the start of last season, it really isn’t that much of a surprise to see no teams expressing interest in the wideout.

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On a positive note, at least Los Angeles is in much better position this time around since Austin has a smaller role with the team since last year was the perfect example that he clearly doesn’t have what it takes to be a No. 1 wideout. And while there’s no chance of him ever becoming the top target for the Rams once again thanks to other key players such as Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, that doesn’t mean Sean McVay isn’t going to continue trying to get the best out of his speedy wideout.

For the sake of Los Angeles, there’s obviously nothing this team would love more than to see Austin make more of an impact on offense when looking at all of the money he’s making from the team. So if McVay can figure out some sort of plan to get more production out of Austin over these final nine games to give the Rams a better chance of securing a playoff spot, fans will clearly be all for it.

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Not only is it sad that Austin set a career high last season with 58 catches for 509 yards, but seeing him only bring in seven receptions for 34 yards through seven games this year is simply pathetic. Even if McVay has managed to help Austin make up for it a little bit with some impressive carries in the ground game, let’s hope the head coach can figure out a way for the wideout to have an increased role, or the frustrations are only going to continue.