WR Calvin Austin III has always had the speed. But the NFL is a prove-it world. Once he showed those wheels under primetime lights, running past everyone on his 72-yard touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders, the league has taken notice. Appearing on 92.9 ESPN’s the Jason & John show with Jason Smith and John Martin, Austin discussed how opposing secondaries have adjusted.
“I would find that, yeah, guys are guarding me certain ways, for sure,” he told the show. “That’s one thing that I’m still like learning and stuff how to combat that.”
Coming out of Memphis, Austin was one of the fastest players in the 2022 NFL Draft, blazing a 4.32 40. But that speed was easily forgotten after he missed his entire rookie year with a foot injury suffered during training camp. After undergoing surgery, it was a fair question whether Austin would still be as fleet of foot as a sophomore. He quickly ended those doubts in the summer and made his first impact play in the regular season in a Sunday night game against the Las Vegas Raiders. With WR George Pickens doubled, Austin ran past the corner on a post and QB Kenny Pickett hit him on the money for the 72-yard score.
But big plays under primetime lights brings NFL’s attention. Every defense is designed to keep a lid on things, understanding the backbreaking nature of splash plays like these ones, especially ones that end up in the end zone. Austin says defenses are doing a couple things to negate his speed.
“I know guys are going to either play off on me, try to get hands on and stuff like that. I’m still just trying to diversify my toolbox and just have different ways of getting open and reading that coverage.”
As you can see in the Raiders’ game, the cornerback was playing tight man coverage on Austin but not pressing and jamming him at the line. The best way to handle his speed is to slow down his releases by pressing him — Austin’s lack of size hurts him — or to play off-man and give him a cushion so he can’t run by defenses.
Austin will have to work on his technique to defeat press and all the releases he can use to win off the line. To beat off-man or zone, he’ll have to stem his routes well enough to get defenders to think cheat and bite before stemming vertical. All things that come with time for a de-facto rookie when it comes to the playing field.
