Incredible is a good way to describe Tavon Austin’s week 10 performance for the St. Louis Rams. Austin had one of the best games in NFL history yesterday. He caught two passes for 138 yards that each went for touchdowns. He had five return (kick and punt) attempts that went for 172 yards and another touchdown. He finished the day with 310 all purpose yards, scoring almost 50 fantasy points and was far and away the highest scoring fantasy player of the week. He is owned in 43 percent of Yahoo! leagues and will certainly be one of the most sought after waiver wire players this week.
Yet, he shouldn’t be in anyone’s fantasy football lineups.
Including yesterday, Austin has only 22 targets over his last six games, averaging just over three targets per game. That alone means that Austin will be reliant on the big play (which he is certainly capable of) for production. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has a history of not being offensively creative and not getting the most out of his players. Even with Austin’s huge performance in week 10, I have my doubts that Schottetnheimer will suddenly start dialing up more plays for Austin. Keep in mind that Jared Cook went off in the first game of this season, catching seven of 10 targets for 141 yards and two touchdowns before Cook saw his targets cut roughly in half (six) in week two. Austin also has only 11 red zone targets on the season, so if the big play doesn’t come through, touchdown opportunities are going to be scarce.
Only for those in dynasty or keeper leagues would I feel comfortable endorsing Austin as worthy of a roster stash and even then I’m still hesitant to call him anything more than a boom or bust flex. Take out yesterday’s monster game and Austin is averaging only all 59 purpose yards per game. He is certainly capable of the big day, but I have my doubts that he will have consistent success. Don’t go chasing the points.
As always, I welcome your comments. If you think I’m wrong, I’m willing to listen. Just back it up with some facts and solid evidence. Thanks for reading and good luck this season.
Dustin Manko is an author at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustinManko, ”Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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