Draft Analysis: Justyn Ross

March 22, 2022 /
  • Height: 6’3″
  • Weight: 210 lbs
  • College: Clemson
  • Tape watched: Georgia, NC State, Texas A&M 2019, Alabama 2019,
  • NFL Comparison: Mohamed Sanu

Pros

  • Release
    Justyn Ross uses a nice variety of tools in his release off the line of scrimmage. He has a nice array of hand moves and upper body strength that fights off corner punches. He has enough lateral movement and body fakes to move defenders from their comfort zone. Ross is great at minimizing his contact zone through press technique.
  • Route Running
    Justyn Ross will make his living on this trait in the NFL. Without possessing any elite qualities in terms of catch point, athletic ability, or blocking, he will have to be a route technician. Ross is a very fluid mover at 6’4″. He can change his direction and make some flexible moves throughout his route. There are some concerns with effort and attention to details however. Ross can round routes without exploding out of the break. He also has a poor habit of slowing down while he looks to the quarterback.
Ross doing what he does best: creating space on the sidelines. He shows a nice release and a great counter punch to give the quarterback a perfect spot to throw the football. This should have been a touchdown.
An example of Ross minimizing his contact area, he hides his chest and dips his shoulder through contact. He then crosses the safeties face and adjusts to his quarterback rolling out opposite of him.
  • Body Control
    Ross was excellent knowing where his feet were in relation to the sideline. He made some impressive catches before going out of bounds.
  • Hands
    Ross has fairly strong hands that had no concentration drops in college. He did leave me wanting more tough plays, but overall he has a good set of mitts.

Midline

  • Blocking
    There isn’t a ton of tape of Justyn Ross in the blocking game. However, he does have excellent upper body strength and never shies away from contact.

Cons

  • Athleticism
    Running a 4.63s 40 yard dash and low jumping numbers, Ross’ pro day was a disappointment. It does confirm the lack of true deep threat ability that is seen on film. Ross is someone who will create for himself with his route running, rather than his ability to run by, or make defenders miss.
  • Effort/Details
    The play in overtime against NC State sums up my concerns with Ross. He has a great route that has the defender thinking short, and he bursts out for a possible tying score. At catch-point, there is no aggression towards the football or even an attempt to reach for it. His arm may have been held, but he doesn’t react for a pass interference call as you’d expect for a 4th down overtime play.
A bad throw wasn’t helped by Justyn Ross. He got his head around early and never really accelerated to his catch point and drifted away from the ball.
This is a touchdown if Ross runs the route like he expects the ball.

Overview

Justyn Ross offers teams a receiver that possesses good height for the position with a unique release and route running skillset. He should be able to stick in the league as a guy that can simply get open and understand defensive alignments and assignments. Ross offers little upside with the ball in his hands. He isn’t a speedster or a broken tackle machine, but you know what you get with him.