Chiefs sign UDFA Justyn Ross

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

Clemson WR Justyn Ross is signing with the #Chiefs to their 90-man roster, per source.

Ross led the ACC in receiving as a freshman in 2018, ranked fifth nationally with 21.7 YPC and was second in receiving touchdowns. He also stands 6-3, 210 pounds. High quality addition for

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 2, 2022

[UChieffyBugger]

For those questioning Ross's college tape and his explosiveness. Firstly the numbers are the numbers, and those first two years were some of the best stats ever put up by a receiver so young and he did it playing on a big stage too whilst also having to share the field with Tee Higgings, Hunter Renfrow and Travis Ettiene. And yet in that WR room Ross was deemed to be the best guy..period.

And as far as "explosiveness" is concerned can somebody tell me what makes Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas, Adam Thielan and Cooper Kupp super explosive? Because imo those guys win with their route running more than anything and that's what Ross excells at, plus he's got a huge catch radious and great hands.

Posters here can have their views but I'm more inclined to give the kid a blank slate and hope that he progresses through camp fully healthy before judging what he can be on the field on Sundays. Because at the end of the day the only opinions that matter where his talent is concerned is Reid and Mahomes and the latter seems to think that Ross is extremely talented..fullstop.

[Chief3188]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

B-list Michael Thomas starts to sound like Demarcus Robinson.

Naw man, Demarcus is a C level Michael Thomas. You really should try and learn your Michael Thomas ratings.

[UChieffyBugger]

Originally Posted by Chief3188

Naw man, Demarcus is a C level Michael Thomas. You really should try and learn your Michael Thomas ratings.

Exactly!!..imo the Thomas comparison is the best one yet and if Ross is anything close to that level we have hit the jackpot..period

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

B-list Michael Thomas starts to sound like Demarcus Robinson.

Thats a horribly pessimistic way of looking at it...

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by UChieffyBugger

For those questioning Ross's college tape and his explosiveness. Firstly the numbers are the numbers, and those first two years were some of the best stats ever put up by a receiver so young and he did it playing on a big stage too whilst also having to share the field with Tee Higgings, Hunter Renfrow and Travis Ettiene. And yet in that WR room Ross was deemed to be the best guy..period.

And as far as "explosiveness" is concerned can somebody tell me what makes Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas, Adam Thielan and Cooper Kupp super explosive? Because imo those guys win with their route running more than anything and that's what Ross excells at, plus he's got a huge catch radious and great hands.

Posters here can have their views but I'm more inclined to give the kid a blank slate and hope that he progresses through camp fully healthy before judging what he can be on the field on Sundays. Because at the end of the day the only opinions that matter where his talent is concerned is Reid and Mahomes and the latter seems to think that Ross is extremely talented..fullstop.

Well, lets watch and lets talk about it.

And i'll preface this by saying:

1. College stats don't matter to me. Meaningless. I don't even look at them. I couldn't tell you what the stats are for our picks this year. I couldn't even get in the ball park. Context of the stats matter way way more.

2. I'm not saying the guy can't be Keenan Allen. Not saying that at all. I'm never going to bet against a WR who's paired with Reid and Mahomes.

With that said, i WILL show you why i'm skeptical.



:16 seconds: WR Screen. Obviously not his game and unlikely he’ll be asked to do much of this at the pro level. But you can see how slowly he moves through this. No sudden burst. No real speed exhibited there. The Furman defense simply gave up on the play and looked terrible. Terrible level of competition. The only thing I took from this play is that he’s not particularly sudden. He doesn’t “shoot out of a canon” with the ball in his hands.

:32 Seconds: Wide open blown coverage. Both DB’s take horrible angles and whiff on the tackle. It wasn’t so much what Ross did here, it’s more what Georgia Southern DIDN’T do. Nothing I can take from this play.

:55 Seconds: Another blown coverage. He outruns the GA Tech safety, whoever that is. That’s nice. But nothing I can really take from that play.

1:04: Another blown zone coverage. The defense just let him by and it was nothing but grass. He outran the Wake Forest safety, whoever that is. That’s nice. But nothing I can really take from that play.

1:14: He get open over the middle and fails to out run the DB. I’d expect an elite WR to house this play. There was nothing but green grass in front of him. Not only could he not out run the FL St corner, they actually caught him from behind.

1:24: Separated at the top of his route in single coverage. Slight push off, but they never call that shit. Adjusted to the ball in the air well. Good NFL level play.

1:32: Beat his man who attempted to press him. He played through the press, the Duke DB got caught peeking into the backfield. Ankle tackled by the safety. Would like to see him turn that into 6 there. Nice play regardless.

1:47: Slight push off at the top the route. Again, w/e. They never call that shit. Nice adjustment to the ball on that “back shoulder throw” (really just a poor throw by the QB). Nice play.

2:03: Flea Flicker. Blown coverage. Despite the DB getting beat badly by the play design, he was still able to recover and tackle Ross. Again, with a blow that bad, you’d like to see Ross get into the endzone on that.

2:15: 1v1 down the sideline. Failed to separate. Nice catch. Played through the physicality of the DB. That’s an NFL level play.

2:34: Looks like he beat a Linebacker. Didn’t really separate well against the LB. This play was more product of design than anything Ross did. Which is becoming a theme here.

2:47: Blown coverage. DB fell down. Safety takes a bad angle and stumbles. #21 and #2 still almost run him down.

3:05: Amazing catch. He beats the attempted press coverage with a nice move inside. Some hand fighting in there. Again, can’t separate too well. NFL level play regardless.

3:23: Probably the greatest catch of his collegiate career.

[ModSocks]

That's a whole lot of stats that were amassed off of blown coverages, good play design and poor level of competition. Not a whole lot of plays in that video where you can say that Ross CREATED that play. That he MADE that happen.

Consistent themes:

1. Benefitted largely from blown coverages and inferior competition. That happens when you're Clemson.

2. Almost never created separation on his own.

3. Inferior DB's were seemingly running right there with him, or were able to close on him.

4. Video demonstrated almost nothing in terms of actual route running. Everything was a slant or a go route of some sort.

Positives:

1. Dude is large and plays large.

2. Excellent hands

3. Shows the ability to go up and fight for the ball.

4. Has some physicallity to his game.

*******

Look, im not DOWN on him, but i certainly have some questions, because his college stuff didn't show many NFL caliber plays, stats be damned. I'm in the, "I'll believe it when i see it" camp.

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Thats a horribly pessimistic way of looking at it...

I know exactly what he means by that statement, and i had similar thoughts.

My thought when reading your post was, "A 'B' Level Michael Thomas is a JAG".

DJ needs to get the **** out of my head.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

I know exactly what he means by that statement, and i had similar thoughts.

My thought when reading your post was, "A 'B' Level Michael Thomas is a JAG".

DJ needs to get the **** out of my head.

Right. It's the Michael Thomas reference specifically that I take note of not because of the caliber of player/production, but the style.

The dude's nickname is 'Slant Boy', FFS. Let's not act like Michael Thomas is some dynamic, do everything ass-kicker. He's an underneath possession WR.

Now gimme a B level version of that (i.e. 80%) and I think you get, as you said, a JAG. It's the same question I had w/ JJSS and why I think that may be Ross's upside - what skill does this person have that's actually all that difficult to find?

[UChieffyBugger]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

That's a whole lot of stats that were amassed off of blown coverages, good play design and poor level of competition. Not a whole lot of plays in that video where you can say that Ross CREATED that play. That he MADE that happen.

Consistent themes:

1. Benefitted largely from blown coverages and inferior competition. That happens when you're Clemson.

2. Almost never created separation on his own.

3. Inferior DB's were seemingly running right there with him, or were able to close on him.

4. Video demonstrated almost nothing in terms of actual route running. Everything was a slant or a go route of some sort.

Positives:

1. Dude is large and plays large.

2. Excellent hands

3. Shows the ability to go up and fight for the ball.

4. Has some physicallity to his game.

*******

Look, im not DOWN on him, but i certainly have some questions, because his college stuff didn't show many NFL caliber plays, stats be damned. I'm in the, "I'll believe it when i see it" camp.

You've put together a good argument and have broken things down bit by bit and that is to be commended. However I do disagree with your point where it pertains to the stats. For starters him being a top rated kid in highschool and then displaying those talents and living up to those expectations straight away by not only putting great things on tape on the biggest of stages, but underlining those performances with big numbers aswell, is something that mostly the elite guys do and i think that's why he was so highly rated. Flashes without some kind of stats only leave more questions imo. Because It's one thing to make circus catches and rip off the odd big run, but if your performances have substance and actually help your team win games then to me that tells me something about your overall game. Another thing I'll add is as I mentioned before he was on the field with many other top guys who are now producing in the NFL in Higgings and Renfrow so he wasn't getting a ton of targets per game like Skyy Moore did for example and I think putting up big numbers whilst not having an abundance of balls thrown to him per game is another trait the elite guys have.

Anyway here are some Justyn Ross route running tapes from a football coach.







The encouraging thing about these videos is you can clearly see he has some very good tools in his release packages. His hand fighting is legit, his footsteps are clean and he catches the ball confidently. And he was doing this stuff aged 18 and 19.

Obviously nothing is promised for even many first round picks..but i remain convinced that IF he can remain healthy, keeps his head in the playbook and works hard, then he has the talent to really surprise a lot of people and be very productive in this league. we'll see if he proves his backers right.

[carcosa]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Hey guys, we’re winning the Super Bowl.

This is HUGE!!!

[Sorter]

Ross isn't as large but I'm a little surprised by the lack of Vincent Jackson comparisons.

[KCUnited]

Kind of reminds me of all the Mike Williams’s combined.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by carcosa

This is HUGE!!!

Big, if true

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Well, lets watch and lets talk about it.

And i'll preface this by saying:

1. College stats don't matter to me. Meaningless. I don't even look at them. I couldn't tell you what the stats are for our picks this year. I couldn't even get in the ball park. Context of the stats matter way way more.

2. I'm not saying the guy can't be Keenan Allen. Not saying that at all. I'm never going to bet against a WR who's paired with Reid and Mahomes.

With that said, i WILL show you why i'm skeptical.



:16 seconds: WR Screen. Obviously not his game and unlikely he’ll be asked to do much of this at the pro level. But you can see how slowly he moves through this. No sudden burst. No real speed exhibited there. The Furman defense simply gave up on the play and looked terrible. Terrible level of competition. The only thing I took from this play is that he’s not particularly sudden. He doesn’t “shoot out of a canon” with the ball in his hands.

:32 Seconds: Wide open blown coverage. Both DB’s take horrible angles and whiff on the tackle. It wasn’t so much what Ross did here, it’s more what Georgia Southern DIDN’T do. Nothing I can take from this play.

:55 Seconds: Another blown coverage. He outruns the GA Tech safety, whoever that is. That’s nice. But nothing I can really take from that play.

1:04: Another blown zone coverage. The defense just let him by and it was nothing but grass. He outran the Wake Forest safety, whoever that is. That’s nice. But nothing I can really take from that play.

1:14: He get open over the middle and fails to out run the DB. I’d expect an elite WR to house this play. There was nothing but green grass in front of him. Not only could he not out run the FL St corner, they actually caught him from behind.

1:24: Separated at the top of his route in single coverage. Slight push off, but they never call that shit. Adjusted to the ball in the air well. Good NFL level play.

1:32: Beat his man who attempted to press him. He played through the press, the Duke DB got caught peeking into the backfield. Ankle tackled by the safety. Would like to see him turn that into 6 there. Nice play regardless.

1:47: Slight push off at the top the route. Again, w/e. They never call that shit. Nice adjustment to the ball on that “back shoulder throw” (really just a poor throw by the QB). Nice play.

2:03: Flea Flicker. Blown coverage. Despite the DB getting beat badly by the play design, he was still able to recover and tackle Ross. Again, with a blow that bad, you’d like to see Ross get into the endzone on that.

2:15: 1v1 down the sideline. Failed to separate. Nice catch. Played through the physicality of the DB. That’s an NFL level play.

2:34: Looks like he beat a Linebacker. Didn’t really separate well against the LB. This play was more product of design than anything Ross did. Which is becoming a theme here.

2:47: Blown coverage. DB fell down. Safety takes a bad angle and stumbles. #21 and #2 still almost run him down.

3:05: Amazing catch. He beats the attempted press coverage with a nice move inside. Some hand fighting in there. Again, can’t separate too well. NFL level play regardless.

3:23: Probably the greatest catch of his collegiate career.

A lot of the 'blown coverages' were blown because of Ross' route running off the snap. Just saying.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by UChieffyBugger

For those questioning Ross's college tape and his explosiveness. Firstly the numbers are the numbers, and those first two years were some of the best stats ever put up by a receiver so young and he did it playing on a big stage too whilst also having to share the field with Tee Higgings, Hunter Renfrow and Travis Ettiene. And yet in that WR room Ross was deemed to be the best guy..period.

And as far as "explosiveness" is concerned can somebody tell me what makes Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas, Adam Thielan and Cooper Kupp super explosive? Because imo those guys win with their route running more than anything and that's what Ross excells at, plus he's got a huge catch radious and great hands.

Posters here can have their views but I'm more inclined to give the kid a blank slate and hope that he progresses through camp fully healthy before judging what he can be on the field on Sundays. Because at the end of the day the only opinions that matter where his talent is concerned is Reid and Mahomes and the latter seems to think that Ross is extremely talented..fullstop.

He had 46 catches for 1000 yards in 2018, that's a great ypc average but he didn't even crack the top 25 for catches or yards in his best year. To say it's some of the best ever is a little over the top.