West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin’s playmaking ability has intrigued several teams as he’s made the rounds heading into the draft.
To no one’s surprise, the offense-starved Jets are on that list. Austin said that his visit with the Jets went well and that the team told him they were hopeful things worked out so Austin landed on their roster. What’s more, coach Rex Ryan told the wideout that the team already has plans about how they would use him in 2013.
“He made a little joke, ‘We might throw you on the defensive side, a couple plays,’ but it was everything good,” Austin said, via Jenny Vrentas of the Newark Star-Ledger. “He said he had a plan for me. I talked to the offensive coordinator (Marty Mornhinweg), and they said they like players like me who can bring big-play ability there.”
Unless the plan the Jets outlined for Austin was similar to the one they outlined for Tim Tebow at this time last year, it’s a safe bet that Austin heard the same thing from other teams in the last few weeks. In a draft that’s been maligned far and wide for its lack of top-shelf talent, Austin stands out on the offensive side of the ball as a player who could change games if used correctly.
That explains why he’s rocketed up draft boards and why he’s likely to hear his name called sometime in the first half of the first round on Thursday night. With two picks in the top 13 and an offense that counted Jeremy Kerley as its top weapon for most of last season, the Jets are certainly a team to watch when it comes to Austin’s eventual landing spot.