The Kansas City Chiefs had some work to do this offseason in shuffling their wide receiver depth chart. Not only did they trade away their star receiver, Tyreek Hill, to the Miami Dolphins, but they also lost depth pieces in Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson in free agency to the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders.
They did make some additions in free agency, signing JuJu Smith-Schuster away from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Marques Valdes-Scantling away from the Green Bay Packers. They also landed Skyy Moore in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, whom many analysts believe is a perfect fit for the Chiefs’ offense.
Kansas City may have also found a gem on the undrafted free agent market in Clemson wide receiver, Justyn Ross. Ross exploded onto the scene as a freshman with the Tigers, leading the team with 1,000 receiving yards on 46 receptions with nine touchdowns.
His sophomore year was more of the same, catching 66 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns, once again playing in all 14 games. Injuries, unfortunately, began piling up after that, and serious ones at that.
A congenital spinal fusion condition sidelined him for the entire 2020 season. He was able to get back on the field for the 2021 season, but his impact wasn’t as great.
Some of that can be placed on the erratic quarterback play that Clemson had in 2021, as Ross caught 46 passes for 514 yards and three touchdowns. But, he had to undergo surgery on a stress fracture in November.
Despite all of the setbacks, Ross is confident in his skills and believes he can make an impact at the next level. He said that he is ready to prove everyone wrong that has doubted him.
While the injuries are certainly a red flag and played a part in him going undrafted, he couldn’t have landed in a much better spot as an undrafted free agent. There is a path to making the roster in Kansas City and Ross’s skill set is a match for what Andy Ried and Eric Bieniemy run offensively.
Successful as a vertical route runner with the ability to fill in at every wide receiver spot in the formation, Ross has a chance to carve out a role for himself down the road.
