Calvin Austin III

Former wide receiver at Memphis. 2021: 74 catches, 1,149 receiving yards, 8 TD.

WR · Memphis · Jr. · #4

5′9″ · 162 lb · Memphis, TN

CFB Index 85 · #23 of 468 WRsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamPittsburgh — drafted 2022, Rd 4, Pick 33, #138 overall

The story

Former wide receiver at Memphis. 2021: 74 catches, 1,149 receiving yards, 8 TD.

Drafted round 4 by the Pittsburgh in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Memphis, 2,541 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #138 overall by Pittsburgh.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 239 yds at Arkansas State.Arkansas State · W 55-502021

202010 games

All-AACfirst

202112 games

All-AACfirst

2022

Drafted by Pittsburghround 4, pick 138

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Memphis

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #138

Pittsburgh · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

2 coaches

2018–2019

Mike Norvell

Memphis

2020–2021

Ryan Silverfield

Memphis

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Norvell → Ryan Silverfield. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

PittsburghEntering 5th NFL season

#138Rd 4 · Pick 33

PittsburghEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Memphis8-6HC: Mike Norvell · Run-leaning

2019Memphis12-2HC: Mike Norvell · Run-leaning

2020Memphis8-3HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Memphis6-6HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

85All-Conference level #23 of 468?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: epa / target (88th percentile). Strength: yards / catch (82nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / target#81 / 655 · 88th pct

1.01

Yards / catch#117 / 655 · 82nd pct

15.5

Explosive rate#139 / 655 · 79th pct

18.7%

TD rate#187 / 655 · 71st pct

8.8%

Catch rate#219 / 655 · 67th pct

80.2%

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#20 / 557 · 96th pct

1149

Receptions#34 / 557 · 94th pct

Rec TDs#39 / 557 · 92nd pct

Long catch#41 / 557 · 90th pct

Rush TDs#10 / 273 · 88th pct

Rush yards#32 / 273 · 88th pct

Yards / catch#128 / 557 · 77th pct

15.5

Fumbles lost#89 / 223 · 36th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

55th → 88th percentile

Explosive rate

58th → 79th percentile

Catch rate

5th → 67th percentile

TD rate

78th → 71st percentile

Yards / catch

81st → 82nd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	5.0	65.6	13.2	0.6
Road5g	7.8	138	19.0	0.8

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	7.1	122	17.3	1.1
Weeks 8+5g	4.8	58.4	13.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Charles Huff

Pass share

38.2%

66 pass / 107 run

Plays / game

57.7

3 games

Team sack rate

5.2%

77 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

85 · #23 of 468 WRs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Memphis	74	1,149	15.5	8	--
2020	Memphis	63	1,053	16.7	11	--
2019	Memphis	17	315	18.5	3	--
2018	Memphis	2	24	12.0	0	--
Career		156	2,541	16.3	22	--

Season	Team
2021	Memphis	1	69	--	135	1
2020	Memphis	2	14	--	188	1
2019	Memphis	4	3	--	--	--
2018	Memphis	1	83	--	--	--
Career		8	169	--	323	2

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2021

W 31–29

vs Mississippi State

9 rec · 105 yds · 2 TD

Edged out Mississippi State at home in a shootout.

With J. Doyle — 51 LONG · 100 PCT · 7 PTS · S. Henigan — 159 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 39.6 · 3 rush yds (4 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 7 · Navy · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +5.61Calvin Austin III run for 69 yds for a TD, (Joe Doyle KICK)
Week 4 · UTSA · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.76Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 60 yds for a TD, (Joe Doyle KICK)
Week 10 · SMU · 4&12 · Q3 · EPA +4.23Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 27 yds to the SMU 1 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Tulsa · 4&4 · Q4 · EPA +3.64Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 25 yds to the Tulsa 44 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Tulsa · 3&11 · Q1 · EPA +3.42Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 19 yds to the Tulsa 36 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Tulsa · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.37Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 30 yds for a TD, (Seth Henigan pass to Javon Ivory for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 12 · Houston · 2&5 · Q3 · EPA +3.16Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 36 yds to the Houst 42 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Mississippi State · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.02Calvin Austin III 21 Yd pass from Seth Henigan (Joe Doyle Kick)
Week 12 · Houston · 4&3 · Q2 · EPA +2.92Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 10 yds to the Houst 48 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Mississippi State · 2&11 · Q1 · EPA +2.78Seth Henigan pass complete to Calvin Austin III for 23 yds to the Memph 47 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 42-17vs Nicholls	6	47	7.8	1	15
Wk 2	W 55-50@ Arkansas State	6	239	39.8	3	75	Season-high 239 yds
Wk 3	W 31-29vs Mississippi State	9	105	11.7	2	25	2 TD catches
Wk 4	L 28-31vs UTSA	6	142	23.7	1	60	142-yard receiving day
Wk 5	L 31-34@ Temple	8	104	13.0	0	25
Wk 6	L 29-35@ Tulsa	13	200	15.4	1	30	200-yard receiving day
Wk 7	W 35-17vs Navy	2	20	10.0	0	12
Wk 8	L 7-24@ UCF	7	44	6.3	0	15
Wk 10	W 28-25vs SMU	8	88	11.0	0	27
Wk 11	L 29-30vs East Carolina	2	37	18.5	0	19
Wk 12	L 13-31@ Houston	5	103	20.6	0	36
Wk 13	W 33-28vs Tulane	2	20	10.0	0	11
Total		74	1149	15.6	8	75

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Calvin Austin III

202010 games

202112 games

2022

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Slot Technician

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