Austin Mack 2020 NFL Draft Profile

Austin Mack 2020 Draft Profile

Austin Mack was a nice prospect coming out of high school. With plenty of offers including Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and others, the Ft. Wayne, Indiana native chose the Buckeyes. It was never a question as Ohio State was the only school he made a visit to. It was then only a couple hours west from his hometown to Columbus, Ohio. Coming into his freshman year, he was immediately thrown into a crowded receivers’ room. His freshman year saw him catch only 2 passes for 15 yards. Because of his limited playing time, he never really made the impact expected of him.

In his career at Ohio State, he never made more than 30 catches in a season and never surpassed 400 yards receiving. He also only had 6 career touchdowns, with three being his season-high. Even though he was a taller, more filled out receiver, he struggled with focus drops. Opposed to this, he did have solid route running ability that allowed him to get free in underneath and intermediate routes. Mack never lived up to the Buckeyes’ expectations due to injuries as well. He only played three games in his freshman season and eight in his junior season, suffering season-ending injuries both times.

Strengths

Possesses desired size and strength for an outside receiver;

intelligent and instinctive with his route work;

absorbs contact to haul in contested catches;

long arms and big hands help haul in bad throws or usually uncatchable balls;

consistent with hand action to free from jams at the line of scrimmage.

Weaknesses

Failed to hit 400 yards or four touchdowns in any season;

hampered by injuries throughout career;

focus drops have been a problem;

production never lived up to talent;

body catches can turn into drops;

NFL Comparison: Cody Latimer

Projection: 6th-7th round

Bottom Line on Austin Mack

Mack never lived up to his talent while at Ohio State. In order to become an everyday player at the pro level, he will have to put in the work. He has to get better at catching the ball and staying healthy as well. Alas, Austin Mack also has some good traits as a wide receiver to work with from the start, which makes him a safe pick to serve as a WR4 or a special teams player for an NFL team in the future.