Kevin Austin played at North Broward Prep in Pompano Beach, FL. Austin was a 4-star prospect and ranked as the number 14 receiver in the 2018 class. He committed to Notre Dame, but had limited production as a freshman. He recorded 5 receptions for 90 yards. He was held out of the last two regular season games despite being healthy.
2019 won't show up on the stat sheet for Kevin Austin and it’s for a really weird reason. It was reported that he would initially miss the first 4 games serving an unofficial suspension for violating the team rules. Austin had a second offense of Notre Dame’s marijuana policy, which resulted in him missing the initial 4 weeks. At some point, that 4 game suspension escalated to Austin missing the entire season. In 2020, injuries kept Austin out of a number of games. He recorded stats in one game, where he caught a single pass for 18 yards.
2021 was Austin’s breakout year. The Irish went 11-2 and Austin led the team in receiving yards on 23 less receptions than the next WR. He was the most efficient receiver, going 18.5 yards per reception on 48 receptions. At the combine, he came in at 6-2 200lbs and absolutely lit up the workouts metrics. Per PlayerProfiler, his 4.43 40 time was an 84th percentile speed score. The more important thing was how he tested in the explosive drills. Kevin Austin put up a 92nd percentile burst score and an 88th percentile agility score.
Kevin Austin was a UDFA signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars following the 2022 NFL Draft. He joins a very crowded and eclectic wide receiver room. That said, the talent in that room is suspect. Christian Kirk, Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault, and Zay Jones will undoubtedly be hurdles, but it’s unclear if Austin has the skill to beat them out for increased play time.
