The NFL Draft has arrive and absent with previous Clemson wideout Justyn Ross in no way hearing his name known as.
Only Andrew Booth Jr. and Baylon Spector listened to their names named. The very last time Clemson experienced just two players chosen in the draft was in 2008, when Tommy Bowden was the head mentor in the 2008 NFL Draft. It is really a record reduced for the Dabo Swinney period, as the preceding low was a few in 2018.
The largest surprise, however, was Ross not remaining drafted. The previous 5-star prospect out of Alabama was all but thought of a very first-round lock immediately after bursting onto the scene as a freshman during the Tigers’ operate to the countrywide title in 2018 but experienced medical concerns moving into the NFL draft.
He caught 46 passes for a crew-higher 1,000 yards, with nine touchdowns. His 21.7-yard regular per capture was a single-time school history between gamers with at minimum 20 receptions, and he was named a very first-crew freshman All-American by 247 Sporting activities.
The dynamic wideout experienced two memorable performances in the 2018 Faculty Soccer Playoff wins in excess of Notre Dame and Alabama, with Ross registering 12 catches for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. The freshman torched the Crimson Tide in the national title game, grabbing 6 catches for 153 yards, which includes a 74-lawn landing.
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In 2019, Ross hauled in a workforce-substantial 66 catches for 865 yards and nine touchdowns, earning All-ACC honorable point out honors. Having said that, his luck was about to acquire a downward transform.
For the duration of spring observe forward of his junior season in 2020, it was discovered that Ross experienced a congenital problem in his backbone that would require operation to restore. Not only was he likely to pass up his entire junior period, but there ended up also thoughts pertaining to regardless of whether he would ever perform yet again.
Ross invested the following calendar 12 months performing his way back and returned for Clemson’s time-opener towards Ga last year. Even though, inspite of main the team in catches (46) and receiving yards (514), Ross in no way seemed like fairly the identical player. It was later on exposed that he performed the entire period with a foot damage prior to it finally forced him to miss out on the final three video games.
He would arrive back to operate out at Clemson’s Professional Working day in March, but he ran a 4.68 40-lawn dash and wasn’t equipped to take part in all of the drills. His vertical was an unimpressive 31.5 inches.
Mix those measurables with the queries encompassing his durability thanks to the neck surgical procedures, and it’s possible that teams just did not consider it was value the threat. Possibly there is a group out there willing to get a shot on the gifted receiver as an undrafted no cost agent, probably not, but this certainly isn’t really how Ross’ Clemson job was expected to close.
A tall and lengthy large receiver with under-regular pace and very good route working abilities. Ross can individual on timing routes and use his size to high issue the football. He lacks explosiveness and fails to engage in to his measurement consistently. A excellent blocker, he initiatives as a starting off outdoors receiver or big slot early on in his profession. In purchase to be more than a tertiary selection, Ross has to gain in the air constantly. Personal injury considerations and just normal exclusive teams capacity thanks to the absence of speed harm his valuation.
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