AUSTIN, Texas — Three players with direct ties to the Austin area were taken in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft Saturday.
On top of the five Longhorns taken throughout the 3-day affair, a trio of guys who made their names as amateurs in the Austin metropolitan area are now members of NFL rosters.
Defensive end Ochaun Mathis, a Manor native, was taken 189th overall by the Los Angeles Rams, after a 4-year college career that started at Texas Christian University in 2018 and ended at Nebraska in 2022. Mathis attended Manor High School, where he was a 3-star recruit.
While at TCU, Mathis earned second team All-Big 12 Conference honors twice in his sophomore and junior seasons, after racking up a total of 91 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in 2020 and 2021. He transferred to Nebraska prior to the 2022 season, after then-TCU head coach Gary Patterson resigned during the 2021 season.
Not long after Mathis was selected, Kyle native and Bowie High School alumnus Elijah Higgins was taken 197th overall by the Miami Dolphins after a 4-year collegiate career at Stanford.
Signing with Stanford in 2019, Higgins caught 119 passes for 1,380 yards and six touchdowns, while having three 100-yard receiving games.
As a big-bodied, possession-oriented receiver, the Dolphins may shift Higgins to tight end, as the team is currently plentiful with receivers and shallow at tight end.
And at 212th overall, Cedar Ridge High standout Deuce Vaughn was taken by the Dallas Cowboys – the team his father, Chris, currently works for as a scout.
After an outstanding senior season saw him break Cedar Ridge's single season rushing record, Vaughn signed with Kansas State, where he became a starter for the Wildcats in his freshman season. His work that season earned him the Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year award and second team All-Big 12 status.
Vaughn was named a Consensus All-American in 2021, a season in which he ran for over 1,400 yards and an astounding 18 touchdowns. He followed his 2021 season up by rushing for 1,295 yards and seven touchdowns for the Wildcats in 2022, serving as their offensive cornerstone during a run that culminated in a Big 12 Championship.
Vaughn now joins a Dallas Cowboys team not short on talent but short on experienced running backs. The team released star running back Ezekiel Elliott earlier in the 2023 offseason, leaving Tony Pollard and Ronald Jones II as the only two backs on the roster with more than 100 career rushing attempts.
Vaughn will likely serve as the third-string running back behind Pollard and Jones in his rookie season. But, as history suggests, Vaughn is accustomed to usurping those ahead of him on the depth chart.