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St. Louis Rams great Torry Holt was on the Edmonds and McKernan Show on Tuesday afternoon to talk a little training camp. He covered a variety of subjects, but his comments about Tavon Austin were the most interesting, especially in light of the sheer volume of unabashed hype coming from practices lately.
"Tavon Austin has been very quiet this camp. He was quiet the other night, and for a guy picked eighth overall, it's bothering me that he's been so quiet," Holt said.
I keep coming back to this piece from Football Outsiders on Austin, focused on his struggles last season in the NFL, the lapses in concentration, the ease with which a defensive back can get him off his route and the complexity of the playbook.
Holt added that he expects Austin to make his biggest impact on special teams. But a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft needs to be more than just a special teams contributor, especially on a team that really needs its young receivers to step forward.
The GSOT legend also gave a different perspective on the sunny camp reports about Kenny Britt and Brian Quick.
"They took a shot to Brian Quick down the left sideline on the fade route, but the ball landed incomplete. I would have liked to have seen him compete a little better for that ball ... would have liked to him hook up, particularly with what I've heard ... about how Britt and Quick have dominated training camp," Hold said. "I think going forward, we may have an opportunity to see those guys perform."
That's a long way from the team's video noting that this group could be the best group of receivers in the NFL.
Holt went on to talk about the offense, where opportunities will be limited for the receivers. They'll have to really maximize their impact in those few chances, and that takes away from the margin of error for Britt, Quick and Austin.
He also talked about Sam Bradford, offering some encouraging words about how the fifth-year quarterback has looked in practice and his leadership role in the locker room.
I'd really encourage you to go listen to the whole interview with Holt (it starts around the 5 minute mark). If the Rams defense can do what we think it can and the running game can be successful, Fisher's team can still win. Holt makes that clear.