my bad, Alen. I was under the impression the jerk route & shake route were subtly different, that the jerk route involved more speed to where the receiver hesitates mid route and subsequently continues on the same path across the field, whereas I thought the shake route was for setting up defenders in zone like getting the defender to bite on the hitch and then continuing the route slightly arched around him into the soft spot of coverage. Help me out here. Yeah, it's a bummer to see how Royal's promising-looking career had to turn sour like that, especially with how Josh McDaniels seemed more concerned with using Royal's speed as a vertical decoy on the perimeter than starting him in the slot and getting him touches IIRC. Thanks for the clip.
Gotchya. Thanks, Alen. What do you think Tavon's adjustment level will be like coming from WVU's offense to ours <hypothetically>? not as extreme as what Crabtree faced from Leach to San Fran, no?
No, not as much as Crabtree's but similar. The biggest question is how he'll deal with press coverage, which we're seeing more of from teams like the Giants, 49ers and Patriots. When he dealt with rerouting at WVU, I thought he had some issues. Of course I'm talking about a limited sample here, as most of his work came as a slot receiver off the line, behind the line of scrimmage or in the first five yards from the line of scrimmage -- both areas that he didn't see a ton of contact.
the stutter step at 4min of the first video shows his senses on the field, lets the defender think he's going to a spot, finds the soft spot, and c ya mother grabbers, houses that sh&$ from not a good angle..lol..
Alen doesn't like it much when I do this, but his stuff needs to be read. Here's another excellent article by Alen: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1551479-what-does-tavon-austin-have-to-offer-as-a-nfl-pro
Here is a play that Green Bay used to get Randall Cobb his first receiving touchdown of his career. This is a play that the Dolphins could run with Tavon Austin and get similar results: [video=youtube;2ZUEYmdGOE8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2ZUEYmdGOE8[/video]
[video]http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000089602/Rodgers-to-Cobb-for-a-13-yard-TD[/video] On this play, Cobb is lined up outside, but the Packers run a quick screen to him to get him in space and let him do his thing.
Nice finds. I'd definitely love to see us get a handful of scores like these two from Cobb that we don't have to work so hard for, you know. Wonder where he'd be drafted if 2011 could have a do-over.
The Packers have done quite well using Cobb, especially this past season. They used him as a decoy from the backfield as well as a weapon. It helped get their other receivers open when he didn't catch the ball and when he did, he was a problem for defenses because they were forced to defend him with linebackers and safeties due to his various alignments.
So how do you feel about lining up Austin at tailback in the pistol and using him as the pitch man? Do you think we could isolate him well in space in this manner or even run a few variations from it with defenders keying on Tavon?
I think you're better off getting him in space out of the gun if you want to pass. The Pistol is generally used to establish a downhill running game and/or play action, which the former would be interesting with Austin if you want to run some stretch concepts. I still prefer gun with him though, much like the Packers did with Cobb, even if you want to run the ball.
Sounds good. Count me in. As far as the pistol, I was curious about using him as the zone read option pitch man (like below), as well as implementing other plays from the formation? We could occasionally get him in space that way too, no? Another example of getting him involved in the screen game.
I'm pretty well convinced somewhere around a decade ago Polian had some sort of break with who he was before. Major medical problem, psychological event, alien abduction, etc. He turned into Matt Millen.
Regarding the pistol sets, you can but I think you're putting him at greater risk of injury when you run downhill with him. Besides, I think you want to get him in space and he might be better off just on the edges. If you see how the Bills gave CJ Spiller the ball (when they did), they did a good job of using screens, getting him on the edge, using draws and splitting him out. Yeah, I'm not a fan of Polian's past work but I know some who believe he is godly.
This is the first I have heard of being able to do this. Thanks. The names on this list are incredible. Big names, big performances, small frames. I'll take it. I have always liked these small receivers as play makers. It seems to me they are just to hard to cover.
In the 1980s he was godly. He assembled the Bills roster that went to 4 straight Super Bowls. Granted, they lost, but that's better than not going at all.
what I like about the design of that first play Alen describes is the simplicity of going three wide with a fake bubble screen, immediately by formation, making it an 8 on 8 situation, this heightening the chances of Austin working in more space..
I don't denigrate the getting to 4 SBs but I wouldn't say he was godly in the 80s. Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, etc. were drafted before Polian became GM. The Cornelius Bennett trade was on Polian's watch and turned out to be a good one and the Thurman Thomas pick was good too, as were Will Wolford, Shane Conlan, Howard Ballard and Henry Jones, but all in all, Polian's drafts in Buffalo were not overwhelming.
Just putting this FUN remark out there. On NFL AM, NFL channel, Ed Reed was at this last Oscar's (?) and was asked by Don Johnson, "who was going to be the #1 pick this year." HE SAID, "I have no clue, man, it might be Tavon SMITH, the guy who ran that 4.2 40 from West Virginia." Well, he was close. Tavon Austin.......not Smith.
Yep. Hard to get a guy that size the ball in the flow if the offense. You almost have to design plays specifically for him. Not saying it won't work but picking him at 12 is hella risky IMO.
Being essentially the same height hasn't stopped Welker from having more receptions the last 5 years than anyone else in the league.
Hey mods, can we merge all the Austin threads and put them in the draft forum? That sure would be swell.
We get you and some others like Austin, most of us have figured it out. Me being an upstanding rule obeying polite poster, I just want to see our Miami Dolphin Forum be filled with...well, Miami Dolphins talk.
except um... it's the offseason and draft time of year. Just wake up from a long nap did you? This thread has 22 pages and 5000 views, so good luck getting it moved. If you wanna move something, Nancy, I suggest starting with your alarmingly high estrogen level.
