Tavon Austin scares me

[Jooser]

Like I said, I am not saying TAKE HIM at 17, but if it happens, he's not going to disappoint, contrary to the OP point about him....like I said, was Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, or Warrick Dunn any bigger? NO. But I'm telling you, this guy is going to wreak havoc on the league next year, just wait and see.

[feltdizz]

I don't remember Pat White getting hit that hard in college... then he met Ike Taylor.

These guys can definitely have an impact and a long career in the NFL but c'mon... we are talking Steelers here, Gilbert will crush this kid in Latrobe.

[calmkiller]

I don't remember Pat White getting hit that hard in college... then he met Ike Taylor.

These guys can definitely have an impact and a long career in the NFL but c'mon... we are talking Steelers here, Gilbert will crush this kid in Latrobe.

Pat White is the same size as Chris Johnson and he had concussion history during his College career. So the size card doesn't apply there and it was a past injury issue. Tavon has no past injury issues. He hasn't missed a game in 8 years. We can agree to disagree I guess.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Was Emmitt Smith or Warick Dunn too small? How about Barry Sanders?

i think you just compared a 174lb guy (Austin) with a 200 lb guy (Sanders) and a 210 lb guy (Emmitt)... Warrick Dunn was almost as small as him... iirc, he was listed between 180-190 for most of his career...

[Jooser]

I won't argue the point any more, but you'll see....

[ikestops85]

The only people tackling him are his teammates in the endzone. No he isn't too tall, and no he isn't a big bodied receiver, but what he is...IS ELECTRIC !

It's ELECTRIC

[Jooser]

He's 170lbs. It's 100x more likely he's gonna get hurt than other players with size.

I like the kid, but realistically he should be a 3-5 round pick. No way should we be talking about him as a 1st rounder. If he's a first rounder, he better return 3x as many kicks for TDs as Devon Hester.

100X ? Not sure how you're quantifying that Flip. He's electric. Period. and we shouldn't worry about him now, cuz we won't draft him anyways...

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Wes Welker is the same height and 10lbs heavier and I am sure Austin can gain a little muscle mass quickly. If we want a WR at 17, I would have no problem with Austin. Kid may really excell in Haley's quick pass offense.

welker was actually drafted at 195lbs, but now plays at 185lbs. Probably gained weight before the combine to appear less fragile for the scouts and coaches.

[flippy]

The guys that are that small and able to avoid contact are few and far between. Eventually all of these guys are gonna run into a Wilfork or Suh or Ngata, even by accident. Heck they're gonna have a big hitter like Ryan Clark blind side them. Maybe the kid's as tough as they come and he can handle it. Great for him. I'm not knocking the kid. He's fun to watch. But I just wouldn't spend a first on the guy. Not even a second.

If someone does and gets a steal, they got lucky. Football is a big man's game for the most part.

[Chadman]

TYhe size of Austin isn't necessarily Chadman's biggest concern. Pappy was onto something though- a majority of his flashy plays involve him being completely exposed & open in college games- that is not likely to happen at NFL level. Sure, it'll happen occasionally, but the majority of his catches are going to come with at least 1 DB hanging off him.

Is he strong enough, physical enough, to fight for the ball effectively on any pass not thrown 60 yards downfield?

In open space, Chadman has no doubt Austin is going to be an exciting prospect. But 'open space' is some rare air on NFL Sunday. Bailey looks better suited to being an every down WR.

It could be that Austin might be better suited at RB.

[AkronSteel]

I'll pass on Austin. His size alone scares me and lots of times those spread WR in college don't always transition to the pros. I do not want another Troy Edwards!!!

[ramblinjim]

Well, and to be clear, I'm not knocking Austin, I'm just concerned about Austin as a 1st rounder is all.

[calmkiller]

I'll pass on Austin. His size alone scares me and lots of times those spread WR in college don't always transition to the pros. I do not want another Troy Edwards!!!

He ran the same position in the same offense for the same coach as Wes Welker. Mister Pittsburgh brought up Welker's size above. Not saying he is the next Wes Welker by any means. But he is faster and quicker. All I am saying is he is a better comparison to Welker than he is Edwards, because he played in the exact same offense, exact same position under the exact same coach that Welker did. I am not going to be mad when the Steelers don't draft him. Just saying the general thought process here is wrong.

[calmkiller]

For Comparison sake. And this is all just for fun. Hope I am not annoying anyone with this stuff. I enjoy arguing when I actually know (or think i know) what I'm talking about.

Receiving & Rushing

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/about/data-coverage.html"]Data Coverage[/URL] (*=bowl stats included) · Glossary · SHARE · Embed · CSV · PRE · [URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/wes-welker-1.html#receiving::none"]LINK[/URL] · ?

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2000.html"]2000[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2000.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2000.html"]Big 12[/URL]	FR	RB	26	334	12.8	0	6	72	12.0	1	32	406	12.7	1
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2001.html"]2001[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2001.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2001.html"]Big 12[/URL]	SO	RB	50	582	11.6	5	15	97	6.5	0	65	679	10.4	5
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2002.html"]2002[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2002.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2002.html"]Big 12[/URL]	JR	RB	86	1054	12.3	7	31	244	7.9	0	117	1298	11.1	7
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2003.html"]2003[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2003.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2003.html"]Big 12[/URL]	SR	WR	97	1099	11.3	9	28	149	5.3	1	125	1248	10.0	10
Career	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/"]Texas Tech[/URL]				259	3069	11.8	21	80	562	7.0	2	339	3631	10.7	23

Receiving & Rushing

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/about/data-coverage.html"]Data Coverage[/URL] (*=bowl stats included) [URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/tavon-austin-1.html#receiving::none"]LINK[/URL]

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2009.html"]2009[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2009.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-east/2009.html"]Big East[/URL]	FR	RB	15	151	10.1	1	6	47	7.8	1	21	198	9.4	2
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2010.html"]2010[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2010.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-east/2010.html"]Big East[/URL]	SO	RB	58	787	13.6	8	15	159	10.6	1	73	946	13.0	9
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2011.html"]2011[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2011.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-east/2011.html"]Big East[/URL]	JR	RB	101	1186	11.7	8	16	182	11.4	1	117	1368	11.7	9
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2012.html"]2012[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2012.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2012.html"]Big 12[/URL]	SR	WR	114	1289	11.3	12	72	643	8.9	3	186	1932	10.4	15
Career	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/"]West Virginia[/URL]				288	3413	11.9	29	109	1031	9.5	6	397	4444	11.2	35

[calmkiller]

Punt & Kick Returns

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/about/data-coverage.html"]Data Coverage[/URL] (*=bowl stats included) · Glossary · SHARE · Embed · CSV · PRE · [URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/wes-welker-1.html#punt_ret::none"]LINK[/URL] · ?

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2000.html"]2000[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2000.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2000.html"]Big 12[/URL]	FR	RB	28	353	12.6	2	17	306	18.0	0
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2001.html"]2001[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2001.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2001.html"]Big 12[/URL]	SO	RB	34	271	8.0	1	2	10	5.0	0
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2002.html"]2002[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2002.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2002.html"]Big 12[/URL]	JR	RB	57	752	13.2	3	1	5	5.0	0
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2003.html"]2003[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/2003.html"]Texas Tech[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2003.html"]Big 12[/URL]	SR	WR	33	385	11.7	2	1	20	20.0	0
Career	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/texas-tech/"]Texas Tech[/URL]				152	1761	11.6	8	21	341	16.2	0

Kick & Punt Returns

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/about/data-coverage.html"]Data Coverage[/URL] (*=bowl stats included) · Glossary · SHARE · Embed · CSV · PRE · [URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/tavon-austin-1.html#kick_ret::none"]LINK[/URL] · ?

[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2009.html"]2009[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2009.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-east/2009.html"]Big East[/URL]	FR	RB	17	426	25.1	1	0	0		0
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2010.html"]2010[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2010.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-east/2010.html"]Big East[/URL]	SO	RB	12	230	19.2	0	0	0		0
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2011.html"]2011[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2011.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-east/2011.html"]Big East[/URL]	JR	RB	36	938	26.1	2	19	268	14.1	0
[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/2012.html"]2012[/URL]*	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/2012.html"]West Virginia[/URL]	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-12/2012.html"]Big 12[/URL]	SR	WR	32	813	25.4	1	15	165	11.0	1
Career	[URL="http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/west-virginia/"]West Virginia[/URL]				97	2407	24.8	4	34	433	12.7	1