The Detroit Lions got to know Calvin Austin at the Senior Bowl, and the incoming draft prospect has drawn a comp to Kalif Raymond.
The Detroit Lions got better than they expected from Kalif Raymond last season, with 48 catches for 576 yards while he averaged 11.2 yards per punt return. The latter number would have been top-five in the league if he had enough returns to qualify.
Raymond is also an unrestricted free agent now, and depending on what else the Lions do to add wide receivers in free agency he might be gone. But the Lions may have a replacement candidate in the draft.
Among the wide receivers the Lions’ coaching staff worked with at the Senior Bowl was Memphis’ Calvin Austin. He had 74 catches for 1,149 yards and eight touchdowns in his final college season, with 19 receiving touchdowns over his final two seasons as Memphis.
A small receiver from a Group of 5 school, Austin needed to crush the NFL Combine to get himself noticed. He did just that, with a 4.32 40-yard dash, a 39-inch vertical and a 11-foot, 3-inch broad jump. All three of those marks were among the top numbers posted by wide receivers in those drills. His lack of size was confirmed, as he came in at less than 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds.
Calvin Austin draws RAS comp to Kalif Raymond
Relative Athletic Score (RAS) combines a bunch of things to get one number, then comparables can be offered. It’s not a be-all-end-all for determining a player’s success in the NFL, but bad numbers and a bad RAS can prove to be telling in some cases.
As passed along by Kent Lee Plathe (@MathBomb on Twitter), Austin and Raymond are a close comp based on RAS.
Austin and Raymond are both small and fast, with similar 40-yard dash splits and shuttle times. Even without those numbers as reference for Raymond, it’s safe to assume Austin’s vertical and broad jumps–which stood out among his peers this year–would have been better than Raymond’s.
Raymond as any sort of comp won’t get people overly excited about Austin. But he may be on the Lions’ radar during the draft–with or without having to strictly replace Raymond on the depth chart.