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RockRam
Austin has been misused so badly and has played with bad QBs in bad, unimaginative offenses. So it is really hard to know what he can and cannot do. Good
WOs typically have to be able to battle for contested balls, have a sizable catch radius, and have the physicality to hand fight and break Press Man coverage. That's not Austin.
I think he is similar to Percy Harvin.
So I don't think Austin becomes a WO per se and as a routine, runs deep routes.
I see him more as a guy who lines up in different places, trying to gain specific advantageous match-ups by scheme, or with the purpose of drawing coverage towards himself and reaching a spot on the field that opens up the field for someone else.
NFL CBs are used to dealing with fast guys. Austin is fast; but he's not off the charts. Speed isn't everything in a WR. But neither is size; there's been some pretty unconventional WOs that have succeeded (Ty Hilton comes to mind). DeShaun Jackson is hardly prototypical, either. But both have been effective.
Austin drops quite a few passes. Also, the writer was right about him letting the ball into his body when he catches it. He doesn't take the ball out of the air aggressively. Maybe his arms are too short for that; he catches like a T-Rex would if a T-Rex could.
