Saturday update: The Pittsburgh Steelers take their second wide receiver of the draft, selecting Calvin Austin with the 138th pick of the draft.
Calvin Austin III is a four-year player out of Memphis. He played in 36 career games for the Tigers. In 2021, Austin played in 12 games and had 74 receptions for 1,149 yards and eight touchdowns. His yards were a career-high, but he regressed in touchdowns from the 11 that he had in his junior season.
WR Calvin Austin: Scouting Report
Austin does lack size with his 5 ft. 8 frame so he won’t be a physical receiver that wins a lot of jump balls. What he lacks in size he makes up for in speed. He ran an unofficial 4.32 40-yard dash at the 2022 NFL Combine. He has great hands and can perform well in space.
The only problem is that with his small stature, he doesn’t get into space cleanly that often. He isn’t adept at breaking tackles or creating physical separation and this limits his upside.
Mock Draft landing spots
Mel Kiper/Todd McShay (ESPN): No. 70, Jacksonville Jaguars
“I’m going to double up on short slot receivers for the Jags, because I’m not sure Laviska Shenault Jr.’s future is in Jacksonville. Todd gave the Jaguars Robinson a few picks ago, and Austin is a dynamo with the ball in his hands. At 5-foot-8, he ran a 4.32 40 at the combine. Austin and Robinson can be versatile targets for a quarterback who needs them.” – Kiper
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): No. 82, Atlanta Falcons
“The Falcons grabbed a wideout in this mock but they shouldn’t mind going for two to push the passing game into a high gear again. He is an excellent undersized quick complement to Watson in the open field.”
Chris Trapasso (CBS Sports): No. 86, Las Vegas Raiders
Fantasy impact: Rookie year
Austin projects to be a career depth piece for however long he remains in the NFL. No matter the landing spot, there won’t be a reason to roster Austin this season unless you are in some crazy 32 team format.
Fantasy impact: Career
Austin lacks the one thing that can’t be taught or trained in the NFL and that is height. They can help him bulk up a little bit, but he isn’t going to come out on the plus side of 50/50 battles. He projects as an outside receiver and to be efficient there is going to have to learn to consistently create space. He will likely be relegated to a special teams role in his career and thus won’t be fantasy relevant in the majority of formats.