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Were you pretty excited when the St. Louis Rams traded up to get Tavon Austin? Of course you were. I was too. What's not to be excited about. You'll never guess who else is pretty stoked about the pick.
Just asked Sam Bradford if he's pumped about Rams landing Tavon Austin. "Absoluuuuutely!" …The equivalent of Christmas morning for a QB.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) April 26, 2013
Austin got a workout from the coaching staff during the lead up to the draft. That produced a little excitement in and of itself. Darlington has more.
Last week, Rams took their QBs to W. Virginia to throw to Tavon. Fisher stopped workout after 2 throws to tell QBs to stop smiling so much.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) April 26, 2013
In case you haven't noticed the theme of the Rams offseason, let me clue you in: Sam Bradford.
Since the start of free agency, the brain trust at Rams Park has made a series of big moves for the offense. Jake Long signed a deal to protect the quarterback's left flank. Jared Cook signed a pretty rich free agent deal too to bolster the roster's playmaking ability, something the Rams offense hasn't had much of in recent years. On Thursday night, the Rams cashed in some of that draft capital from the RGIII trade to snag Austin, the draft's most dynamic receiver.
It's pretty clear that averaging less than 20 points per game isn't going to cut it anymore. It's also fairly obvious that the front office believes they can do it with Bradford at the helm, giving him weapons and blockers for the first time in his short career. Now, the pressure's on Bradford to make it work.