Why former Notre Dame WR Kevin Austin Jr. has 'no quarrels' about going undrafted

Kevin Austin Jr. kept the clichés out of his first NFL press conference. No chips on his shoulder, no promises to prove doubters wrong, no proclaiming himself a steal.

Austin thought he would be drafted. He bypassed a graduate season at Notre Dame confident he could put himself in position to be drafted. Wide receivers who post his 40-yard dash time (4.43) and vertical jump height (39 inches) at the NFL Scouting Combine usually get drafted.

All 262 picks in April’s draft, though, came and went without a call. Austin was disappointed, of course. But not bitter. He had several undrafted free agent overtures immediately thrown his way and chose the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offer within an hour of the draft ending.

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“I’ve gotten over it,” Austin told reporters at Jaguars rookie minicamp this month. “I wasn’t really angry. Everything happens for a reason. I’m a God man. I realize God, he does things for a reason. I have no quarrels about not being drafted. I have a chance to compete to be on a team right now. That’s all I can ask for.”

The Jaguars paid a handsome price to secure him in post-draft free agency. They gave him a three-year deal with $230,000 guaranteed, a figure bested by only four other undrafted rookie contracts this year, per Spotrac.

One offseason emphasis for the 3-14 Jaguars was adding weapons around second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021. It started in free agency, when they signed Christian Kirk (four years, $84 million) and Zay Jones (three years, $24 million) to lucrative contracts.

Behind them, though, there’s a mix of veterans on expiring contracts (Marvin Jones Jr., Laquon Treadwell) and young players who have underperformed so far (2020 second-rounder Laviska Shenault Jr). The Jaguars did not draft a receiver with any of their seven picks.

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That leaves room for Austin to make the team this year. Impending free agents after this season give him a chance to grow his role beyond 2022 if he can land a spot on the 53-man roster the team as a rookie and leave a good first impression.

Austin’s process of choosing Jacksonville didn’t involve much thinking. He did not spend the moments after the draft scouring depth charts, examining draft classes and watching who signed where. His agent informed him of the teams that had offered him contracts and their receiver situations.

“We had conversations, but he just weighed the positives and negatives of every team. Jacksonville was the obvious choice,” Austin said.

And not just because it offered Austin, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native, a chance to begin his career in his home state.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here for me to improve, the coaching staff, the quarterback, there’s a lot of great pieces here,” Austin said.

Austin feels he’s in the right spot, even if getting there involved a bit more draft-day stress and disappointment than he expected. Slipping out of the draft didn’t dent his sense of belonging. He decided he was ready to take the professional shot after leading Notre Dame in receiving yards (888) and yards per catch (18.5) in 2021. His seven touchdowns tied for the team lead.

Even with some first-half bumps, last fall represented the breakthrough year he, his teammates and Notre Dame’s staff were waiting to see. A 2019 suspension and a pair of foot fractures in 2020 turned a potential underclassman star into a late bloomer, but Austin still felt comfortable betting on himself and thinks his best football was ahead of him.

“I felt like I showed my senior year what I could have done my freshman, sophomore, junior year,” Austin said. “My attitude toward that was that I have the ceiling to go higher, so coming to the NFL and competing with guys at this level would be the best thing for me.” Draft pick or not, he found that chance.