Patriots player profile: Alex Austin is the next man up at cornerback

Previewing the Patriots cornerback heading into his third season in New England.

The cornerback position was a revolving door for the New England Patriots in 2023, with several players coming and going in hopes of fielding a competitive unit. Among those who walked through it was then-rookie Alex Austin, who joined the club in early November.

Austin has remained as a part of the Patriots since then, and is now heading into his second full season with the team.

Hard facts

Name: Alex Austin

Position: Cornerback

Jersey number: 28

Opening day age: 24 (5/22/2001)

Measurements: 6’1”, 191 lbs, 31 7/8” arm length, 8 1/2” hand size, 4.55s 40-yard dash, 7.06s 3-cone drill, 4.33s short shuttle, 33” vertical jump, 10’2” broad jump, 7.29 Relative Athletic Score

Experience

NFL: Buffalo Bills (2023), Houston Texans (2023), New England Patriots (2025-) | College: Oregon State (2019-22)

An alumni of Long Beach Poly, the alma mater of multiple NFL players through the years (including ex-Patriots Willie McGinest, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jack Jones), Austin was rated as a three-star recruit out of high school. He received multiple scholarship offers and decided to take his talents to Oregon State.

In four seasons with the Beavers, Austin appeared in 36 games with 30 starts and was named honorable-mention All-Pac-12 during each of his final two seasons in Corvallis. His college success led to him getting selected 252nd overall in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

His stint with the Bills was short-lived, however, and he found himself a member of another team after his release on cutdown day: the Texans claimed him off waivers; he went on to play three games for the team. Austin left Houston in November of his rookie season and shortly thereafter joined the Patriots.

Since then, he has seen action in 14 games with four starts. He registered one interception as well as 18 tackles.

Scouting report

Strengths: Austin is a well-built defensive back who combines height and length with adequate movement skills. He is a disruptive player at the catch point who plays through his opponent and has the ball skills as well as the punch timing to attack the ball in the air. He is patient in man coverage and has shown that he can run with wide receivers through their routes, particularly versus horizontal patterns and out of off-man looks. He also displays some good spatial awareness and vision as well as an understanding of route concepts in zone.

Weaknesses: Whether it is his long speed, acceleration or quickness, Austin lacks top-tier athleticism and as a result has shown some limitations in coverage. He is not particularly well-equipped to follow receivers on vertical patterns or out of the slot because of the time it takes to roll his hips, and he also can get shaken at the top of routes. He has been of limited use as a run defender or pass rusher through two seasons as a Patriot, and lacks the strength to regularly disengage from blocking attempts.

2024 review

Stats: 9 games (3 starts) | 234 defensive snaps (20.9%), 78 special teams snaps (17.9%) | 9 tackles, 2 missed tackles (18.2%), 1 TFL | 19 targets, 9 catches (47.4%), 76 yards, 1 TD, 5 PBUs | 1 penalty

Season recap: Coming off a rather eventful rookie season that saw him switch teams twice, Austin was initially headed for the open market. However, the Patriots opted to retain the exclusive rights free agent via a one-year contract — a deal that neither guaranteed him a spot on the roster nor any regular playing time, as he found out right out of the gate.

Coming off a hot-and-cold training camp, Austin entered the 2024 season as the Patriots’ fourth outside cornerback. He did not see any defensive playing time over the first two weeks of the season but by Week 3 against the New York Jets had surpassed Marco Wilson on the depth chart.

Unfortunately, an ankle injury prompted the team to move him to injured reserve following that game. Austin ended up missing eight games because of the issue and did not return to the game day roster until late November against the Miami Dolphins.

After playing only special teams versus Miami, Austin saw his first defensive snaps since Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts the following week. He did show some rust but generally accounted well for himself.

From that point on, Austin became a regular in the Patriots’ cornerback rotation. From his return to the defense against the Colts in Week 13 on, he was on the field for 65.3 percent of defensive snaps and registered nine tackles as well as a team-leading five pass breakups over the final five games of the season.

Even though his season was split in two parts because of his ankle injury, Austin looked solid following his comeback and subsequent return to the CB rotation. He therefore entered a second straight offseason with some momentum on his side, and for a second straight year was rewarded with a new deal by the Patriots.

2025 preview

Position: Outside cornerback | Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2025

What will be his role? Austin did see some reps in the slot during the offseason, but he primarily projects as an outside cornerback yet again. As such, he is the next man up behind starters Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis (as well as starting slot Marcus Jones); the two are undisputed as the 1-2 punch on the perimeter, but the 24-year-old could provide value as an experienced backup and potential matchup player against bigger receiving corps.

What is his growth potential? Austin’s growth over the first two seasons was hampered by constant changes of scenery (2023) and injury (2024). If he can stay healthy, and the Patriots have no plans of moving on, he should be able to take a step forward this year. Based on his in-game performances as both a rookie and sophomore, he could develop into a usable third option on the outside.

Does he have positional versatility? Despite the aforementioned slot reps in practice and some in-game snaps on three special teams units (punt return, kickoff return, kickoff coverage), Austin’s versatility is more of a bonus than a defining feature. He best projects as an outside cornerback whose contributions elsewhere are probably best kept at a reasonable amount at this stage in his career.

What is his salary cap situation? The Patriots signed Austin to a one-year exclusive rights tender this offseason that comes with a $1.03 million cap hit consisting entirely of his non-guaranteed base salary. That number is not high enough to qualify for Top 51 status, which means that Austin — due to a lack of guarantees — does currently not have any impact on New England’s salary cap space.

How safe is his roster spot? Besides Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, there are no surefire locks in the Patriots’ cornerback room. Even if you add Marcus Jones to that group, a total of eight CBs are left to compete for what will likely be no more than three roster spots. Based on his practice usage during the offseason, Austin appears to be on track to earn one of those, but he cannot allow other players to pass him on the depth chart in training camp and preseason.

Summary: Austin was a solid pickup for the Patriots in 2023, and could see a fairly high number of snaps in his third year in the NFL. While he ideally would not start any games over Christian Gonzalez or Carlton Davis, he will be called upon to provide relief if need be and carry out a predetermined set of assignments on the outside. So far in his career, he has shown that he can do both of those things at a competitive level.

What do you think about Alex Austin heading into the 2025 season? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.