Tag: Miles Austin

This rookie WR will flourish if Cowboys deploy a Miles Austin development plan

When the Cowboys drafted Ryan Flournoy in the sixth round of the draft, they drafted a project, similar to another WR years ago. | From @ReidDHanson

It was Week 5 of the 2009 season. The 2-2 Cowboys were in Kansas City looking to get back into the win column. Their offense sputtered to the tune of only 10 points the week prior. They needed a spark, but it wasn’t clear where that spark would come from. Cue fourth-year pro Miles Austin.

Austin, an undrafted free agent from Monmouth, was getting his first true opportunity of his career when various other receiver injuries forced him into the lineup. In the 3-plus seasons prior he totaled only 393 receiving years. All he did that afternoon in KC was explode to the tune of 10 receptions for 250 yards and two touchdowns. Austin would go on to post 81 receptions for 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns that season and go on to have a successful decade-long career.

Austin serves as the blueprint for how to slowly and effectively develop an athletically gifted prospect from a lower-rated college football program. His steady work in the background progressed year after year and when he was finally given the chance, a quarter of the way into his fourth season, he exploded, posting two consecutive Pro Bowl seasons and cashing in for over $40 million in career earnings. It’s a blueprint Cowboys rookie Ryan Flournoy should be mindful of.

Flournoy, drafted by Dallas in the sixth round out of Southeast Missouri State, relates to Austin in many ways. He wasn’t acquired with a top pick. He comes from a rather obscure football program. At 6-foot-1, 200-pounds, he has the physical presence of a pro but none of the polish. And most importantly he has an outrageous athletic profile that’s truly worth developing.

Under the Bill Parcells administration, the Cowboys were extremely patient with Austin. They saw the value in his potential and were willing to put in the work to see his development through. If anything, they probably waited too long with Austin because a case can be made he should have been starting long before that fateful day in Kansas City. But the point is they didn’t rush things or grow impatient. The potential rewards were worth it. Much the same way with Flournoy.

Flournoy’s film, which is almost impossible to locate, isn’t exactly a Master class in NFL route running. The plan was often just to get the ball into his hands and let him take over. He’s starting from square one and that may not manifest into a 53-man roster spot this season. The Cowboys have to be willing to slow-play it with their rookie because his athletic profile appears to be worth it.

Success is rarely achieved in an instant and that’s especially true for sixth round draft picks. A study that looked at all drafted WRs between the years 2000-2014, showed only 5.63% went on to claim starting roles for four or more seasons in their career.

Flournoy is a longshot just like Dallas’ Jalen Brooks, a promising WR drafted in seventh round a year earlier, is a longshot. The odds are against either of them ever rising to top-three status, but Austin shows it also isn’t impossible.

For Flournoy it’s all about the mental side of things. It’s clear he has the athletic ability and size to be an NFL WR, he just needs to learn the nuances of the position. That’s no small task since many talented players have tried and failed to achieve that.

Austin showed the results are worth it. There’s nothing wrong with slow playing the development if that’s what it takes. It’s something the Cowboys and Flournoy should keep in mind as they work towards his development.

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New York Jets receivers coach Miles Austin suspended for violating NFL gambling policy

Jets assistant coach Miles Austin has been suspended by the NFL for gambling

The news for the New York Jets continues to be bad.

A day after losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a key game, the Jets learned wide receivers coach Miles Austin is being suspended for at least a year for violating the NFL gambling policy.

The league said Austin is appealing the ban:

“The league will have no further comment until that appeal has been resolved,” the NFL’s statement said.

Austin, 38, is in his second season with the Jets. He played in college at Monmouth and spent 10 years in the NFL with the Cowboys, Browns, and Eagles.

He became a coach in 2019 with the 49ers and joined the Jets with head coach Robert Saleh in 2021.

Austin’s attorney said his client did not wager on NFL games.

“The NFL suspended Miles Austin for wagering from a legal mobile account on table games and non-NFL professional sports,” Austin’s attorney, Bill Deni, said in a statement. “Miles did not wager on any NFL game in violation of the Gambling Policy for NFL Personnel. He has been fully cooperative with the NFL’s investigation. He is appealing his suspension.”

NFL suspends Miles Austin at least one year for gambling

Miles Austin suspended for gambling

The NFL has suspended Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin indefinitely for at least one year for violating the league’s gambling policy, per Tom Pelissero.

The NFL sent out a statement Friday: “The league will have no further comment until that appeal has been resolved.”

Per the policy, “All NFL Personnel other than Players are further prohibited from placing, soliciting, or facilitating bets on any other professional (e.g., NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, USTA, MLS), college (e.g., NCAA basketball), international (e.g., World Baseball Classic, World Cup), or Olympic sports competition, tournament or event.”

Austin did not coach Thursday against the Jaguars. According to ESPN, Austin had been under investigation for a while.

He is appealing the decision per a statement from his attorney, Bill Deni. “The NFL suspended Miles Austin for wagering from a legal mobile account on table games and non-NFL professional sports. Miles did not wager on any NFL game in violation of the Gambling Policy for NFL Personnel. He has been fully cooperative with the NFL’s investigation. He is appealing his suspension.”

Austin becomes the second player or coach to be suspended as a result of gambling, joining Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who was suspended in March.

Austin was in his fourth season as a coach and his second with the Jets after being brought over from San Francisco by Robert Saleh.

Former Eagle and current Jets coach Miles Austin suspended for violating NFL’s gambling policy

Former Eagles, and Cowboys wide receiver and current Jets assistant coach Miles Austin was suspended for violating NFL’s gambling policy

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It’s Eagles-Cowboys week and a pass catcher that played for both teams is set to miss the next calendar year over sports betting.

Adam Schefter is reporting that former NFL wide receiver and current Jets wide receiver Miles Austin is being suspended one year for violating the league’s policy on sports betting in gambling.

According to Mike Garafalo, Austin placed bets on table games and non-NFL sports games but is being suspended because gambling is prohibited for all teams and league personnel.

Austin is best known for spending 8 seasons with the Cowboys where he amassed 4,481 yards on 296 catches, and 34 touchdowns after going undrafted and signing with Dallas out of Monmouth in 2006.

After a short stint with the Brown, Austin joined the Eagles in 2015 on a one-year deal worth $2.3 million. Projected to have a big role with Philadelphia in Chip Kelly’s young and inexperienced wide receiver corps, Austin was held to 13 catches for 224 yards and 1 touchdown in 11 games, while having five games where he had no catches.

Austin was hired as the Jets’ wide receivers coach last season after spending two years in Dallas as an assistant and two more with the 49ers.

He’ll appeal the ruling.

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Jets WR coach Miles Austin attends Drake London’s pro day

Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin got an up-close look at USC wide receiver Drake London during his pro day.

Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin ventured out to the west coast Friday to attend USC wideout Drake London’s pro day, according to DJ Bien-Aime of the New York Daily News.

London has long been linked to the Jets as a candidate at pick No. 10 given the team’s need for another weapon for Zach Wilson. New York fell just short of landing Tyreek Hill in a trade with the Chiefs last month, making it all the more likely Joe Douglas adds a receiver early in the 2022 NFL draft.

London posted gaudy numbers in just eight games during his final season at USC, catching 88 passes for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns. He has a skill set that would instantly help the Jets as a big-bodied deep and red zone threat.

Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson and Alabama’s Jameson Williams are also in play for the Jets with the 10th pick. Wilson is a refined option, while the speedy Williams was widely considered to be the best wide receiver in this year’s draft before tearing his ACL in the national championship game.

All three players would bolster a wide receiver room that is currently led by Corey Davis and Elijah Moore.

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Amari Cooper out; Could another Cowboys WR have a Miles Austin moment vs Chiefs?

In 2009, a bench WR stepped up in Kansas City and became a superstar; which current Cowboys player could repeat the feat this Sunday? | From @ToddBrock24f7

In the final hours leading up to an away game at Arrowhead Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys lose their biggest name at wide receiver. Winning on the road in Kansas City is a challenge for a team at full strength, but depending on a little-known depth player to step up at a key playmaking position in the notoriously-hostile environment puts the Cowboys at a distinct disadvantage.

Yes, that is the scenario enveloping the Cowboys this week as four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper has been declared out of Sunday’s matchup after being placed on the Reserve/COVID list.

But that opening premise is actually describing the 2009 season, when Dallas and Kansas City were set to square off in a Week 5 meeting. By the time the dust had settled that day, a 25-year-old Cowboys benchwarmer named Miles Austin had become an instant celebrity.

Could history repeat itself this weekend to produce a new Cowboys legend? Who in the current Dallas locker room is best-suited to play the role of Austin in the 2021 reboot?

The Cowboys were 2-2 coming into that October contest 12 years ago. It was the third year on the job for head coach Wade Phillips. Wide receiver Roy Williams, in his first full season in Dallas after being acquired by trade from Detroit the previous October, was to become the team’s top pass-catching threat after the release of Terrell Owens. But a ribs injury suffered against Denver caused Williams to miss several days of practice the following week. On Saturday, the day before their game versus the Chiefs, Williams was not on board the team plane to Kansas City. Someone named Miles Austin was to get his first NFL start.

Most Cowboys fans know the rest of the story. Austin absolutely exploded that day, hauling in ten catches from quarterback Tony Romo for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the 60-yard walkoff game-winner in overtime.

A star was born.

Williams was never again the undisputed WR1 for the rest of his short Dallas tenure. Austin, though, went on to lead the NFL in receiving yards that year and earned a Pro Bowl nod, the first of two straight. His 250-yard day at Arrowhead still stands as the franchise record for a receiver.

Austin was not a total unknown on his breakout day, though. He was officially listed as the team’s third receiving option after Owens’s release. The undrafted free agent was in his fourth season as a Cowboy, having seen action in 41 games. He had logged 23 catches on 45 targets for 435 yards and four touchdowns.

Clearly, though, Phillips and Romo and the rest of the offense thought enough of Austin to give him the opportunity when Williams was suddenly declared out.

So who is the under-the-mainstream-radar guy that the 2021 Cowboys might turn to for an Austinesque coming-out party in Kansas City? A look at the career stats of the current depth chart shows three players who all have not-dissimilar bodies of work coming into Sunday’s game.

Name Gms Tgts Recs Yds TDs
Miles Austin (entering 2009 KC game) 41 45 23 435 4
Cedrick Wilson 31 63 41 515 5
Noah Brown 45 52 31 358 0
Malik Turner 33 34 23 305 3

Wilson is the best-known of the bunch, both for his recent fill-in receiver work during Michael Gallup’s injury and for his current usage in many of the Cowboys’ gadget plays under offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Turner just made a minor splash with two late scores in Week 9 to make the 30-16 loss to Denver seem less horrific than it actually was. And Brown has seen more playing time than any of them, although he hasn’t yet done anything that would light up a box score.

Wilson looks to be the primary beneficiary of Cooper’s COVID absence, but Dallas has shown a willingness to ride the guy with the hot hand. Should Brown or Turner catch fire by catching a few Dak Prescott passes in what promises to be a shootout, either could just as easily get their Miles Austin Mojo Moment this Sunday and provide the Cowboys with another weapon in the arsenal for when Cooper returns.

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Deciding which Cowboys WR trade was worse, Joey Galloway or Roy Williams

The Cowboys made 3 huge WR trades in the last 20 years; they’re 1 for 3. The wrong failure may be getting more press than the true villian.

It’s a time of inaction for the NFL as OTAs and minicamps are over and teams are preparing for training camp. A quiet period during the offseason means a myriad of lists to stoke the fires of fans who otherwise have little distractions.

Bleacher Report recently ranked the seven worst trades since 2000, and the Dallas Cowboys found a place on it with their storied acquisition of WR Joey Galloway.

The Cowboys needed help at receiver after star WR Michael Irvin was forced to retire with a spinal cord injury that he suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones decided to make a splash move and traded two first-round picks to the Seattle Seahawks for the speedster Galloway.

Unfortunately the trade never paid dividends for the Cowboys. Galloway tore his ACL in his first game with Dallas and never made the impact the team was expecting. The trade was listed as the fourth worst since 2000 as the Cowboys went “all-in on Galloway:”

“Through four years in the NFL, Joey Galloway averaged more than 1,000 yards per season and totaled 36 touchdowns. The wideout wanted a new contract from the Seattle Seahawks badly enough that he held out for half of the 1999 campaign.

In the following offseason, Seattle slapped the franchise tag on Galloway and engineered a massive trade win.

Galloway went to the Dallas Cowboys for a pair of first-round picks. One of those picks turned into Alabama running back Shaun Alexander, who would eventually win NFL MVP while setting a league record for single-season touchdowns. Alexander smashed Seattle’s franchise records for yards and touchdowns.

On the other hand, Galloway missed most of 2000 because of a torn left ACL. He managed 2,279 yards and 11 scores over the next three seasons before Dallas traded him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”

The trade was clearly a bust for the Cowboys, who felt the sting of not having first-round selections in back-to-back drafts. Not having those picks hurt even more as the team tried to then replace quarterback Troy Aikman, who retired in 2000 and never really got to play with Galloway.

However, as bad as that trade was for the Cowboys and Jones, was there a trade that might have been worse since then? During the 2008 season, the Cowboys might have made an even bigger trade mistake by acquiring WR Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions in exchange for first, third and sixth-round picks in the 2009 draft. The team then immediately signed Williams to a six-year, $54 million contract.

The trade and the contract turned out to be huge mistakes. The Cowboys needed a star WR, and Williams never worked out. In his 2.5 seasons with the Cowboys, Williams never topped 600 yards receiving or had double-digit scores as he struggled to mesh with the Dallas offense under QB Tony Romo. Really, he was one of the few receivers who had this issue, as Romo routinely made lesser receivers into stars.

Further troubling for the trade was the Cowboys found their No. 1 receiver in undrafted receiver Miles Austin when Williams was brought in. During 2009, Williams’ first full season in Dallas, he caught just 38 passes for 596 yards and seven touchdowns. By comparison, Austin racked up 81 receptions for 1,320 yards and 11 scores that same year and Williams became the second option.

The Williams trade was likely worse for the Cowboys.

Galloway, although he never hit 1,000 yards receiving with the team, did have productive seasons. In Galloway’s three full seasons with Dallas, he went over 600 yards in each and approached 1,000 yards (908) during the 2002 season. And that was with quarterbacks Quincy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Clint Stoener, and Chad Hutchinson.

With Aikman under center for his only game in 2000, Galloway had 64 yards and a score, so it seems fair to assume he would’ve been more productive with Aikman at QB and if healthy.

Williams was never close to being what the Cowboys traded for at WR, despite playing with Romo as his QB. The Cowboys expected a Pro Bowl WR, but Williams didn’t come close to getting that level of play, catching just over 48% of the passes thrown his way during his time in Dallas.

Neither trade will be remembered fondly, but the deal for Williams turned out worse for the franchise. The Cowboys needed Williams to help during Romo’s prime and when the team was legitimate contenders. Galloway came on during the end of an era and when the Cowboys probably weren’t competing for the Super Bowl.

Ironically, neither failure ultimately stopped Jones and the Cowboys from being aggressive in acquiring receiving talent. The 2018 deal for Amari Cooper was one that finally worked out. The team has gotten from Cooper what they needed from Galloway and Williams.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.

 

News: Cowboys players can’t get out divisional round until they leave Dallas

Cowboys players can’t get out their own way until they make their way out of Dallas. All the mocks circle the same draft wagons.

The Dallas Cowboys are moving quickly in filling out their coaching staff. Just this week, Aden Durde was hired to be the defensive line coach under Dan Quinn, and Dallas lost a defensive backs coach to Michigan. Former Cowboy players, like Miles Austin and Dan Campbell, are both thriving in their coaching ventures, as both were hired to new positions this week.

The Cowboys have many interesting offseason decisions remaining. With a bevy of unrestricted free agents, Dallas will be forced to fill in their roster with at least a handful of new faces. Learn what upcoming free agents you should be watching for in this week’s Conference Championship round. NFL mock draft season is in full swing. A compilation of the top Cowboys mocks, plus, would Cowboys fans hate drafting a TE in round 1 if he’s truly the best available player?

Former Cowboys star Miles Austin to be Jets wide receivers coach

The undrafted free agent was a star wideout for the Cowboys during the Tony Romo era; now he’ll join Robert Saleh’s staff in New York.

An undrafted free agent from a small FCS school who became one of Tony Romo’s top targets during his Cowboys career will now be teaching a room full of pass-catchers in the league’s biggest market.

Miles Austin is set to become the New York Jets’ next wide receivers coach, according to reports this week. The 36-year-old played eight seasons in Dallas, earning two Pro Bowl nods during his tenure.

Austin will be reunited with new Jets head coach Robert Saleh; the two men served on staff together last season in San Francisco. Austin acted as an offensive quality control coach during the 49ers’ 2019 Super Bowl season, while Saleh was the team’s defensive coordinator.

Austin was undrafted out of Monmouth in 2006, and signed with the Cowboys primarily as a special teams player. While he had an electrifying 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the playoffs versus Seattle as a rookie, Austin didn’t really burst onto the scene until the 2009 season. As a late replacement for the injured Roy Williams against Kansas City in Week 5, Austin exploded for 10 catches and 250 yards- breaking Bob Hayes’s franchise single-game receiving yards record- and a pair of touchdowns, including the 60-yard walk-off winner in overtime.

No. 19 assumed a starting role before the end of the season, and was rewarded with the first of back-to-back Pro Bowl nods. Over the eight seasons he wore the star, Austin tallied 301 receptions- 34 of them for scores- and 4,481 yards over 106 games.

After his release by Dallas, Austin played 2014 in Cleveland and 2015 in Philadelphia. In 2017, he was hired by the Cowboys as a scouting intern. He interviewed the following year to be the team’s wide receivers coach, but the job went to Sanjay Lal instead. Austin returned to Monmouth to complete his degree in political science, and took his position with San Francisco the next year.

“Miles is one of my favorite players that I’ve ever coached, just in terms of how on it he was,” 49ers head coach Shanahan said, per a 247 Sports piece from 2019. “Whether it was the run game or the pass game, he really enjoyed football. He was descending at that time in his career, so I wasn’t sure I was going to like him as much. But then when I got there and I saw the person, you can see why he was so successful. A guy like that, you’re always like, ‘Hey, if you’re ever interested in a coach, you’d be a hell of a one.'”

Now Austin will have his chance in New York, overseeing the position he once played.

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Jets hire DC Jeff Ulbrich, announce 15 other additions to Robert Saleh’s staff

Robert Saleh officially begins filling out his staff on the Jets.

Robert Saleh’s new coaching staff is filling out nicely.

The Jets announced 16 hires after Saleh’s introductory press conference Thursday, including offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

The LaFleur hiring was heavily reported soon after the Jets hired Saleh – both joined Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco in 2017 – but Ulbrich joins the Jets after taking over as Falcons defensive coordinator in 2020 following a five-year stint as linebackers coach from 2015-2019.

Ulbrich, a former NFL linebacker for the 49ers, coached with Saleh in Seattle in 2011 when Ulbrich was a special teams assistant and Saleh was a defensive quality control coach. Ulbrich coached at UCLA as the special teams and linebackers coach from 2012-2014 before returning to the NFL with the Falcons.

The rest of the Jets’ defensive staff – for now –includes: defensive line coaches Aaron Whitecotton and Nate Ollie, and defensive assistants Chip Vaughn, Ricky Manning Jr. and Hayes Pullard. 

LaFleur will lead the offense and will be joined by quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese, offensive line coach John Benton, running backs coach Jon “Taylor” Embree, tight ends coach Ron Middleton, wide receivers coach Miles Austin, passing game specialist Greg Knapp and offensive assistants Billy VandeMerkt, Mack Brown and Todd Washington.