Elite wide receiver Kevin Austin became the 16th Notre Dame commit of the 2018 cycle when he announced for the Irish today. Austin has steadily climbed in the national rankings since the Irish offered almost a year ago; the 6’3″, 198-pound athlete stands out due to plus ability in multiple categories and the ease with which he does things. Austin is also very serious about academics, which is why Notre Dame and Duke were prominent in his recruitment; Miami also made a strong push for the North Broward Prep product, but Austin ultimately decided that Notre Dame had the ideal mix of football and school.
Autry Denson and Del Alexander deserve kudos for this commitment as both did a great job of connecting with Austin. Even so, we should note here that Austin has been very candid about taking all his official visits. He has a very businesslike approach to his game and his recruitment, and he wants to make sure that he has a full picture of all his options in case any new information appears down the road. Like, for example, staff changes. You can’t blame the kid, and if anything it shows commendable maturity in a stressful process.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247 Composite — 4 star (.9522), #109 overall, #23 WR, #24 in FL
247 Sports — 4 star (93 rating), #118 overall, #20 WR, #16 in FL
Rivals — 4 star (5.9 rating), #141 overall, #28 WR, #32 in FL
Scout — 4 star, #175 overall, #35 WR, #32 in FL
ESPN — 4 star (84 rating), #90 overall, #15 WR, #20 in FL
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, Miami, and Duke, Kevin Austin also holds offers from Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others. Not too shabby.
Highlights
This was a fun highlight reel. Austin isn’t Will Fuller, but he’s fast enough to make you pay for missed tackles. What really stood out to me is that he has what I would call deceptive speed: He has long, easy strides, and gets to full speed without looking like he’s trying. He also knows when to step on the gas and when to ease off, so he can set up angles and surprise guys. He has excellent vision in the open field and runs in traffic like a tailback; he’s not shy about taking guys on, and some of the stiffarms he threw made me wince. Ouch. His shiftiness is pretty good for a guy his size as well. Again, nobody’s going to confuse him with Barry Sanders, but he has some good wiggle for being 6’3″+.
He has soft hands and generally does a good job of snatching the ball, but I did see him let it get into his body a couple of times; a couple of those looked like power slants where he may have been shielding the defender, but at least one was a fade. On the same reel he’s very aggressive going up for jump balls, so I’m sure he’ll be fine, he just needs to get more consistent. He’ll probably also need to develop as a route runner, as I didn’t see anything here to indicate he’s advanced right now. Those are both eminently workable things, though, and given his businesslike approach mentioned above I have no doubt he’ll improve quickly.
Impact
Notre Dame has a lot of bodies at wide receiver, which would seem to indicate that Austin might face an uphill battle to make an early impact. On the flip side, very few of those players have distinguished themselves at this point, and Austin will arrive with a build that is both college-ready and aligned with what Chip Long prefers from his receivers. If Equanimeous St. Brown decides to jump to the NFL after 2017, the path could be even clearer. If Austin grasps the offense quickly he could earn action as a reserve immediately, with a starting role likely coming in 2019 or 2020.
Welcome to the Irish family, Kevin!
“deceptive speed” – so, you’re saying he’s like Welker?
Ha… I was thinking more like Carlos Beltran. He has above average speed, not elite but good. It’s deceptive because he moves very smoothly and it looks more effortless than it “should.” And then he’s past you. That was Beltran in his prime, never looked like he was trying that hard and then he would just kind of appear in the gap to take a hit away.
i’d say more like Jeff Samardzija…Austin isn’t quite as tall, but the Shark is the first player i thought of when watching the video above.
I can see the JS similarities, especially after the catch.
Always good to get a playmaker. As for speed, he looks fast enough. I have always felt true, raw, high end speed is somewhat overrated. A guy with 4.5 speed will out run a guy with 4.3 speed if you give him a step and an angle. Think Lee Becton outrunning the Fla St defense on that long TD run or even Josh Adams on the 96 yd TD run against Wake. Neither was the fastest guy on the field, or faster than the entire defense, they just had a step and could not be caught. I would rather have a guy with great burst and quick acceleration to get that step or through that hole. Austin clearly has that.
This kid sounds like the real deal. According to Jamie, He went deep into the Opening Finals and carried his team. We’ll see if they can keep him. I’m thinking a lot of teams are going to keep chasing this kid right up to the last minute.
Nice get. Rumors were flying the last couple days that he was going to surprise with his choice. He didn’t……It sounds like the coaches will need to keep recruiting this guy, right up to signing day. That happens.
I commit to Notre Dame unless I subsequently choose to go to another school. I guess that’s all a committment ever is.
Coach Holtz said it best….”A commitment means your just the present leader for that kid.”
He’s gonna have to be Mike Floyd, I think. His HUDL page says he only runs a 4.71 40. That’s awful for a WR. Hopefully that’s not accurate. But big kid and a frame to get bigger. 6’3″ and 198….
Tommy, is that you?
Jamie Uyeyama’s film review of him (not behind a paywall) says he showed advanced route running at The Opening and was able to get open against the top corners he went up against despite not having elite speed.
Cool, great news. I hadn’t seen that, looks like he’s been putting in a lot of work already.
“what Chip Long prefers from his receivers”
What does long prefer from his receivers that is different from previous coordinators?
Long generally likes more physical receivers overall and particularly in the slot (like Claypool and Mack), whereas Denbrock liked shiftier guys in the slot (like Sanders and Finke, who are both outside receivers now). Long is actually similar to early ND Kelly, if you think about it – remember Daniel Smith?
I think Austin is definitely an outside guy long term, but his build might let him get on the field sooner for Long.