Austin May Win the #3 Job Despite the Play of Hurd

The training camp practice I attended last Friday was very interesting in terms of the wide receiver play. Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton looked obviously a cut above the rest of the receiver group, but the next player in my rankings would have been Sam Hurd. He caught every ball in sight and got himself open regularly. Miles Austin, on the other hand, was nearly invisible.

It appears, based on the media practice reports, that Hurd has continued his stellar play while Austin has been steady but not a standout. Hurd may deserve to win the #3 receiver role, but his lack of speed will probably cost him the job. Miles Austin has proven that he can force the safety to stay deep when he is in the game. Sam Hurd has never shown blazing speed.

If you consider a three receiver set you have to wonder who would keep the defense from jumping the short and intermediate routes if Sam Hurd were on the field with Crayton, Roy Williams, and Witten. Maybe motioning Felix Jones into the slot or sending him deep out of the backfield could provide a deep threat but that can't happen on a regular basis.

So, in my mind, Miles Austin will get more playing time than Sam Hurd for one reason...speed. I love how Sam Hurd is playing and I think he deserves to get on the field. Unfortunately he is not the guy who will keep the safety from cheating to help on Jason Witten and Roy Williams.