After four years at Clemson, and three seasons on the field, Justyn Ross decided it was the right time to move on.
So in January, following his redshirt junior season in 2021, the former Tigers’ star wide receiver declared for the 2022 NFL Draft.
“I just felt like my time was up,” Ross said to the media at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week. “I felt like I did a lot for Clemson, and I felt like they did a lot for me, too. So, I felt like my time was up.”
Ross indeed did a lot for Clemson from 2018-21, including helping lead the Tigers to a national title as a freshman in 2018 with game highs in receptions (six) and receiving yards (153) and a 74-yard touchdown in the national championship game vs. Alabama.
He missed the 2020 season but still concluded his career as a Tiger ranked tied for fifth in Clemson history in career receiving touchdowns (20), 10th in career receiving yards (2,379) and 11th in career receptions (158).
If you ask Ross, he believes his size, strength, route-running ability and hands will all translate well to the NFL, and that his ceiling at the next level is sky high.
“I feel like I can go through the roof,” he said. “I feel like I can go through the roof with everything, just because of my ability and my size and everything that I come with.”
Ross missed the final three games of last season with a foot injury. He had been dealing with a stress fracture since before the season started, and aggravated it in the first quarter of the UConn game on Nov. 13 while being tackled at the tail end of a reception.
Of course, Ross also missed all of the 2020 season after undergoing spinal fusion surgery that spring. However, he made an inspiring comeback from the career-threatening spinal condition and was named as one of two recipients of the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award, which is presented annually to the conference’s most courageous player(s), after leading the Tigers in receptions (46) and receiving yards (514) in 2021.
From a health standpoint right now, the former five-star prospect from Phenix City, Ala., says he feels like the player he was prior to the injuries when he burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2018 with 46 receptions for a team-leading 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games.
“I feel like I’m back to that old Justyn,” he said. “Even with this year, I was dealing with a lot, just playing through an injured foot and everything like that. So, I feel like I’m back to that old me.”
While Ross was medically cleared to participate in the NFL Combine, he didn’t take part in on-field workouts and instead only did the bench press in addition to going through interviews and medical evaluations.
Ross said he feels “100 percent right now” and plans to do everything at Clemson’s Pro Day on March 17. He isn’t sure how much his injury history will affect his draft stock — he has been projected as a fourth-round pick by some pundits — but is confident that whichever team calls his name in the 2022 NFL Draft in late April will be glad they did.
“I don’t really try to worry about it too much,” Ross said of his draft projections. “I know somebody is going to take a chance and get me, and it’s going to be worth their while.”
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
–Video courtesy of Pittsburgh Sports Live
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