Glad you asked this, was meaning to write on him. My problem with him is that it’s simply refreshing the same Patriots offense we’ve seen since 2010. So you let Welker walk, maybe re-sign Edelman and draft Austin and you’ve got the same underneath, middle-of-the-field offense that the book is out on.
So yes, if you’re trying to recreate that offense, Austin could be a good fit. But what I’d prefer is that the Pats evolve their offense and look to bigger, more physical outside threats in the draft instead of more slot receivers. That’s what they need most. Until they stretch the field and force teams to address their outside threats they’ll keep running into the same problems against the better defenses.