Tavon Austin still believes that he would have become an NFL superstar if it wasn’t for Jeff Fisher and the Rams. However, he can’t quite keep a straight story on the points he makes from his days in the league and the Rams may have avoided this story entirely if they had drafted DeAndre Hopkins instead in 2013.
On a resurfaced podcast appearance with Johnny Manziel from 2024, just after he officially retired, Austin emphasizes the importance of being in the right system and the right position as a wide
receiver.
‘It’s all about the program and the system you get in … and the coaches … I was one of the most talented in the world when I got into the league … we go from an air raid offense (at West Virginia) to a pro style … and another thing is that they put me at outside receiver. I played slot my whole time in college.“
It’s hard to exactly follow what Tavon Austin said in the interview because he contradicts himself with every other sentence.
One moment, Austin is taking accountability. The next, he’s saying that he failed because of coaching.
At one point, Austin said it wasn’t the system’s fault. The next, he’s directly blaming the Rams for drafting him as an air raid receiver and expecting him to play in a pro style offense.
Austin appeared to be having a hard time staying on one track, but maybe his points are just going over my head. That could happen.
Certainly there’s a chance that Tavon Austin was ahead of his time. In a 2026 offense, a rookie Austin would be used much differently than how Jeff Fisher and Brian Schottenheimer used him in 2013. The slot position and gadget receivers are far more useful today than they were 13 years ago.
Even then, Austin’s career was not a total bust.
Nobody spends five years with the team that drafted him and could be a flat-out bust like Greg Robinson or Jason Smith. Austin had some big plays and was of value to the Rams at times.
However, DeAndre Hopkins was drafted the same year as Austin and didn’t make the same excuses. Hopkins went to a Texans team that fired head coach Gary Kubiak during his rookie season. His quarterback, Matt Schaub, got benched and shipped out. Hopkins didn’t have a decent quarterback until the Texans drafted Deshaun Watson in his fifth season.
If the Rams had drafted Hopkins over Austin, would we be talking about him as a bust?
Probably not. The responsibility falls on the player far more often and with more authority than it belongs to the coaching staff or the franchise.
Austin was ahead of his time. But it’s hard to argue that any team would have made him the superstar that he thinks he was going to be anywhere but St. Louis.
