3. Tavon Austin, WR/KR
Another player who suddenly sees a lot of depth around him is Tavon Austin. Dallas added him during the 2018 NFL Draft as they made a trade with the Los Angeles Rams to pick up their former first-round pick out of West Virginia. Originally, director of player personnel Stephen Jones went off about getting the ball in Austin’s hands a dozen times a game, but then when the season started we all saw that Austin was going to have a similar role in Dallas as he had in L.A.
Austin simply isn’t a complete receiver. That’s not meant as a knock on him, but he never has had more than 58 receptions in a season and had just 13 in his final year with the Rams. He ended up playing in just seven games for Dallas and had only 13 total targets with eight receptions and 140 yards. He added another 55 yards on the ground as a runner.
This isn’t to say there’s no home for Austin. He did record 73 yards on punt returns, including a 51-yarder against Seattle — and had a touchdown on a return negated by a penalty. Those highlight-reel plays show that his speed can still impact a game, but doing so as a punt returner is where he will make his mark.
Even with his ability to break games open as a punt returner, Austin will have to prove that he offers more than that. Dallas has been fine in the past putting people like Cole Beasley back there and being content with simply fielding the ball cleanly.
Not only have they not put a huge emphasis on return specialists, but rookie Tony Pollard and free agent pick up Randall Cobb both have the ability to help on return teams. That means making the final 53 for Tavon Austin is no lock.