Stats say that Austin, as a straight up WR, isn't even the best WR on his own team. With the exact same number of catches, Steadman Bailey has about 3 more yards per completition and more than twice the number of TD's.
Here are the receiving stats for last season, sorted by # of TD's. Note that Steadman Bailey's 25 TD's
total for the year are +/- DOUBLE of any other player (Hopkins being the exception).
1. Stedman Bailey, WR, 5-10/188, WVU, 114-1622, 14.2, 87, 25-TDs
2. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, 6-1/200, CLEM, 82-1405, 17.1, 62, 18-TDs
7. Quinton Patton, WR, 6-2/195, LT, 104-392, 13.4, 79, 13-TDs
8. Terrance Williams, WR, 6-2/205, BAY, 97-1832, 18.9, 80, 12-TDs
12. Tavon Austin, WR, 5-9/174, WVU, 114-1289, 11.3, 75, 12-TDs
15. Markus Wheaton, WR, 6-1/182, ORST, 91-1244, 13.7, 51, 11-TDs
LINK:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/sta ... Touchdowns
Seems like there may be some "height bias" with regard to receivers. The standards seem to be that a sub 6 foot receiver has to have elite speed to crack the first round of the draft. A "good sized" receiver of 6-2 to 6-5 seems to be the ideal size preferred because they are better able to fight for balls and are just so much better as "red zone" targets. If that is the case, how do we justify 3rd round projections on a guy like Steadman Bailey that has double or triple the number of TD's than nearly every other receiver in the country?
I still like the looks of DeAndre Hopkins overall game and would certainly hope that he is considered at the #25 pick. However, In the event that he isn't available (or the Hawks go with another position) I would be more than happy to see Steadman Bailey as a 2-nd (or even 3-rd) round pick for the Seahawks. If one takes the time to research Bailey, you'll find that unlike Golden Tate, it's his PRECISE route running and quickness in and out of cuts that offsets any perceived speed disadvantage (he's supposed to be a 4.49/40 guy, but watch combine #'s). The Seahawks need more TD makers.