Calvin Austin was a 3-star prospect from the Memphis area. He attended the Harding Academy of Memphis where he ran track and played football. In track and field, he was a nine-time state champion in sprints/relays and it really showed during his first year at Memphis. Austin redshirted his freshman year on the football team, but helped set school records in the 4x100 relay.
His redshirt freshman year he continued to be a two-sport athlete, but did not do much on the football field. Calvin found more success as a runner winning a silver medal at the 2019 American Athletic Conference. The two sport athlete continued both sports into the 2019-2020 season. That season he had a whopping 18.5 yards per reception on 17 receptions. Most of the play on film shows Austin making one player miss or getting past the defense and catching a deep ball. Following the football season, the track and field season was cut short due to Covid.
The 2020 football season was Calvin Austin’s redshirt junior season. It also marked the first time he was solely dedicated to one sport, football. He exploded on the field in a multitude of ways. As a receiver, he led the team with receptions and broke through the 1,000 receiving yards ceiling. The Tigers also leveraged his speed as a runner on special teams. He returned 20 punts for 188 yards and a score. It was the breakout season. His production continued to increase in 2021. As a redshirt senior, Calvin Austin violated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane by catching 13 targets for 200 yards and 1 touchdown. He capped off the year with 74 receptions, 1,149 yards and 8 touchdowns. He also had 1 rush attempt for 69 yards (nice) and touchdown. Calvin Austin commanded a 28.54% target share in his final year as a Memphis Tiger.
Earning a trip to the senior bowl, Calvin Austin displayed his speed despite being a smaller guy at 5-8 170lbs. Austin blazed at the combine as expected. Despite the 4.32 40-time, size adjusted speed score was only 39th percentile per PlayerProfiler stats. He continued to put up impressive burst and agility scores, both greater than the 90th percentile. Calvin Austin is your typical stretch receiver, but he profiles to a similar type of player as Darnell Mooney.
Calvin Austin was selected in the 4th round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Austin offers utility as a special teams player that other wide receivers on the Steelers don’t. His contributions to the team were primarily for special teams, and while he could carve out a role, it's incredibly difficult to envision one where Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, and Pat Freiermuth reign as the leading pass catchers.
