Austin has played in 37 NFL games, thats more than 2 years of playing games and he has less than 500. yards catching and more fumbles, than TDs. He's obviously seeing the field if he's played in 37 games in just three seasons as a pro.
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=B8C14694-972A-BB1E-4911D26C7BB8B451
While he was a prolific pass catcher at Monmouth, Austin found the jump to the NFL to be too big to contribute immediately on offense. Instead, he took over kickoff return duties midway through the 2006 season, averaging 26 yards a return and returning a kickoff for a touchdown in the Cowboys' playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Austin continued in that role last season with a 25.5 yards-per-return average, but still received few offensive snaps playing behind starters Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton, with Sam Hurd coming in on three-receiver sets.
But now Austin feels he's ready to catch passes rather than kickoffs.
"I want to help us out on special teams as much as I can, but now I want to start making plays on offense, and doing what I can to help the team out and getting some W's," Austin said.
Just looking at Austin on the field now compared to last year reveals a noticeable difference. He's bigger, up to 216 pounds, and his routes are a lot crisper. Plus, he's dropping significantly fewer passes than in the past two years, a flaw that plagued him the one time he got extended playing time against Washington in the 2007 season finale.
Last season, Austin had a firm hold on the fourth receiver spot, but with his kickoff return role possibly being taken over by the club's first round draft pick, Felix Jones, he'll need to challenge for Hurd's third spot in order to get more playing time. Phillips has said Austin and Hurd are virtually tied for that spot, but Austin doesn't view it that way. That doesn't mean he feels he's better than Hurd - it's just not a man-to-man competition, literally.
