How much time would Bailey be spending outside with Wallace & Hartline starting and Matthews having an inside track to the backup spot?
NFLDraftScout has Bailey's combine height as 5102 or 5'10 1/4". Austin is 5084 or 5'8 1/2". That would make them an inch and 3/4s difference if they are correct. Other differences, Bailey did 11 reps on the bench compared to Austin's 14 and did a 4.09 shuttle compared to Austin's 4.01. Bailey, 9'9" broad jump, Austin, 10' even. Bailey, 34.5" vert, Austin, 32" Forty time though is 4.34 to 4.52. Unofficial times had them farther apart in speed.
Wallace? We don't have Mike Wallace yet. With Hartline, Bess and Matthews I would think Bailey would get around 300 snaps. Similar to Cobb his rookie season.
Tavon Austin does not really play like Steve Smith (Carolina) whatsoever, though. I agree with the rest of your points. Bailey reminds me of smith in that he's a short perimeter guy who attacks defenses and the ball like a freakin bulldog, but the athletic difference between the two cannot be ignored. Smith is a true 4.41ish guy, while Bailey is a true 4.52 guy.
Where on earth is Bess playing? We are going into this hypothetical with Hartline and Wallace as our outside guys, with Bailey in the slot. Matthews and Binns are the #4/#5 guys. You don't really have any room for him.
Oh you shut right the hell up, you Butthead McHypocritepants. Now that my ownership of you is complete, I demand you tout Bailey in your sig! (Settle down Clean, I'm just joking around with him.)
Bailey and Austin are both gifted receivers, each with his own set of skills. They compliment each other very well. There will be the opportunity to draft both and I hope that happens. That has a chance to be Duper/Clayton redux. If there are serious concerns with Austin being able to play outside, then do as Rafi suggested and work him out and scrutinize this aspect of his game. I think he will acquit himself well. I'd be all for drafting Swope as well. In a few years that would be one helluva receiving corp IMO, and I think they could contribute in the near term as well.
IMO the best comparison for Bailey is our Mark Clayton. Bailey is faster and a bit stronger. I don't see Smith as the best comparison, but he is a guy more of the youngsters here remember and a guy who was a top 5 WR in the league at one point.
My expectation is that Bailey will supplant Hartline as a starter in a year or two and become our top WR in two or three years.
I thought I recall him checking in at under 5'10 at the combine, so I'm not sure why NFLdraftscout has 5'10 1/4. http://www.draftnikcentral.com/draft-prospects/player-profile/?player_id=919
Bailey measured in at a tiny hair OVER 5'10. That website has it wrong, and Im not sure where they got that made up height from. Not that it matters, whatsoever. edit: I mean, that very same website has a different height listed for Austin than you are quoting as well. 5'8 1/8. lol actually they have TWO heights listed for Austin. I think it's safe to say we shouldn't be using this site as any type of authority... for anything. A lot of their numbers are wrong.
I thought that's why he dropped to the 5th round-- b/c teams weren't sure how well he'd be able to separate in the NFL at 4.5+ speed. ?
My only problem is now that we've spent so much on free agent receivers i don't see us drafting one early. THIS IS A MISTAKE. Not all of these free agents are going to pan out. And we need a young guy to groom for later.