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Over the past couple weeks, the Bears have seen a flurry of moves in their wide receiver class, gaining Drake Whitehurst, while losing AJ Richardson and Dannon Cavil. That much is understandable, seeing as Sonny Dykes, Rob Likens and company are recruiting certain types of players specifically for the brand new Bear Raid. As of today, you can add one more to that list of wide receiver transactions - after taking an official visit this weekend, former Boise State commit Jack Austin announced that he would be trading in the Broncos' blue and orange for the California Blue and Gold.
Chino Hills (Calif.) receiver Jack Austin has committed to California, flipping from Boise State after his official visit...
— Brandon Huffman (@BrandonHuffman) January 21, 2013
The Rankings:
247sports: 3 star (82), 184th ranked receiver, 147th ranked in California
Rivals: 3 star
Scout: 3 star, 77th ranked receiver
ESPN: 3 star (78), 73rd ranked receiver, 64th ranked in California
Austin also had offers from Boise State, Oregon State, San Diego State, Utah and Utah State.
A Quick Look:
Though he offers a decent sized frame at 6'3", 195, Austin's reported 4.68 40 time could be an immediate worry for some - especially since we have been spoiled with the likes of Brendan Bigelow and Desean Jackson in recent years. However, a quick look at Austin's tape on Hudl shows him beating a handful of defenders and moving fluidly in the open field, hinting that he may be "football fast", despite his lack of straight line speed. The latter of these two skills should make him a good fit for the Bear Raid - his jukes at 2:55 and 3:12 both come off 5 yard hitch routes right out of Franklin's offense, and he's shown catching a good amount of screens on the outside, as well. All of this - combined with the routes he runs throughout the clip - suggests he could be a factor in the short to intermediate game, at least. Austin also displays a solid sense for locating the football in the air, making a number of difficult looking catches, even though he doesn't appear to be much of a deep threat.
What do you think of Austin? Are two receivers in the '13 class enough? Sound off below.
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