We are breaking down the Notre Dame football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday, April 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Today we’ll take a look at a wide receiver who has overcome injuries plus a short amount of production but could be an intriguing pick for a NFL team.

SPECS

Name: Kevin Austin
Position: WR
Height: 6-2 (per NFL Combine)
Weight: 200 (per NFL Combine)
40: 4.43 (t-11 out of 32 WR)
Vertical: 39 (t-4th out of 33 WR)
Broad: 132 (5th out of 34 WR)
3-Cone: 6.71 (1st out of 13 WR)
20-Shuttle: 4.15 (2nd out of 13 WR)
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

STATS

YEAR REC YDS AVG TD
2018 5 90 18.0 0
2020 1 18 18.0 0
2021 48 888 18.5 7
Total 54 996 18.4 7

BIO:

Kevin Austin was the 2nd highest recruit for Notre Dame in the 2018 class, a top 100 overall recruit, but ranked below other big names in a loaded wideout cycle with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Terrace Marshall, Jaylen Waddle, and Justyn Ross. Austin would see the field early in his freshman season catching a modest 5 passes in the first two-thirds of the season before being left off the depth chart under mysterious circumstances for the remainder of the season.

Those issues appeared to bleed into the following season when Austin was unofficially suspended for the entire 2019 campaign. He’d make a return for 2020, only to break his foot early in the season. For a while it seemed like it would never come together for Austin and his perpetual hype was going to slowly fade away. Then, he finally stayed healthy, showed good traits, and put together a very solid senior season emerging as Notre Dame’s No. 1 receiver.

Austin was viewed as a coin flip to return for 2022 (with the Covid year he had eligibility for 2022 and 2023) but got his degree from Notre Dame and decided to move on and test the NFL waters.

STRENGTHS:

Put together really well with good NFL size. Looks like a million bucks. Overcame a scary foot injury and some murky off-field issues to become Notre Dame’s main playmaker at receiver in 2021. Nice burst off the line. He’s able to run crisp routes and accelerates nicely in the open field after making a catch. Comes back to the ball well. Austin made several plays down field and is comfortable making catches over his shoulder. Tracks the ball well on deep passes. At his best, he met the potential he was given as a recruit.

WEAKNESSES:

A lack of experience and overall production from a very brief college career. Too often fought the ball and experienced some really bad drops. Inconsistent hands. He can seem robotic at times and his athleticism isn’t always smooth. Austin wasn’t always good at using his size against smaller corners. Not great at winning 50/50 balls and gets muscled away from making a catch a lot. Needs to be more physical.

OVERVIEW:

We’ll see where Austin gets picked this spring. He was in that gray area where a return to South Bend could’ve boosted his stock but with a degree in hand it may make more sense to start his professional career if he feels like it can be sustained for a few contracts.

Austin undoubtedly helped himself immensely at the NFL Combine by posting impressive testing numbers and likely putting away any doubt that he wouldn’t hear his named called during the Draft.

Plenty of scouts will see his untapped potential and a ceiling as a steady NFL receiver. However, the lack of reps in college and no special teams experience could be a tough sell for certain organizations.

PREDICTION:

5th Round, 168th Overall to the Tennessee Titans

The Titans look to be on their way to negotiating a contract extension with 2019 2nd round pick A.J. Brown as he enters the final season of his rookie contract. They also have the aging Julio Jones at a pretty hefty $14 million cap hit for the next 2 seasons for someone whose health and productivity have declined sharply since 2020, although there appears to be ways out of that contract for Tennessee.

That said, the Titans need depth at wide receiver really badly and Austin offers an opportunity to bring someone in on an inexpensive rookie deal who could be your 4th receiver if he develops quickly enough. Tennessee did just throw a bag of money at Robert Woods in free agency so Austin being drafted here is less likely. Still, that’s a pair of starting receivers at 30 or older so a youth movement is needed.