John Ross - WR - Washington
ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS Has home-run gear to yank the top off of defenses. Vertical speed demands respect and creates open throws underneath. Corners open hips early to turn and sprint, leaving his curl and dig routes unchallenged. Feet are fire. On verticals from the slot, sells the corner route and stems to the post with a burst for easy separation and a comfortable throwing window for the quarterback. Hands are generally solid. Plus hand-eye coordination. Natural ball-tracker who locates the deep ball early and watches it. Dangerous show-and-go open-field ability after the catch. Able to win with slants or fades near the goal line. Eludes the first tackler and can turn a short one into a long one in a heartbeat. Has enough size to work from outside or from the slot. Saw four of his eight carries go for 15-plus yards. Has returned at least one kickoff for a touchdown in each of his three years at Washington.
WEAKNESSES Undersized with below-average play strength. Struggled to get into his routes cleanly and impact the game against the physical cornerbacks at Alabama. Weight will creep too far out over his toes at times. Tape shows occasional stumbles over nothing but turf in his routes and after the catch. Needs to do better job of working back to the throw. Has to learn to make contested catches. Will need to sharpen his short and intermediate routes to become a true three-level target. Has had a major injury to both knees. The long-term health of both knees will be a concern that has to be answered at the combine.
DRAFT PROJECTION Round 1
SOURCES TELL US "He will get emotional on the field when he drops one or when their quarterback leaves an open deep ball short, and I've heard other scouts call it 'bad body language.' I just think he's an edgy player. He's competitive and shows it. You'll take some attitude when a guy scores as many touchdowns as he does." -- West Coast scout for NFC team
NFL COMPARISON DeSean Jackson
BOTTOM LINE Ross is an instant-impact weapon who scored 23 touchdowns in just 112 touches. He should be able to step right in as a kick returner and a slot receiver, but teams with speed at tight end might utilize him outside to create extreme vertical stress on opposing safeties. If his knees check out as healthy, Ross is a likely first-round pick with the rare ability to become a high-volume slot receiver or a lesser-targeted, high-yield deep-ball threat.
6 offensive players taken in the top 9 in what was considered a defensive strong draft.
Teams looking for defense in the 1st round have to be thrilled by what's happening so far.
keep pushing the D back to us.
wow, KC trades their first this year, their first next year and their third this year to move up
read at like 4pm that KC wanted Mahomes and were willing to do anything to get up to take him.
"I would love to have a guy that always gets the key hit, a pitcher that always makes his best pitch and a manager that can always make the right decision. The problem is getting him to put down his beer and come out of the stands and do those things." - Danny Murraugh
mahomes to kc