Chiefs WR Justyn Ross can validate all the hype in preseason Week 1

Everywhere you turn this offseason, Kansas City Chiefs WR Justyn Ross has made headlines. During each practice, he's made a new highlight-reel play that catches the attention of the fans and media. He's created this sort of unstoppable train of hype surrounding his play, but when he suits up against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Aug 13, 2023 9:55 AM EDT

Everywhere you turn this offseason, Kansas City Chiefs WR Justyn Ross has made headlines.

During each practice, he's made a new highlight-reel play that catches the attention of the fans and media. He's created this sort of unstoppable train of hype surrounding his play, but when he suits up against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, it'll be the first in-game NFL action of his professional career.

This time last year, Ross was facing his latest health-related trial. He opted for a second surgical procedure on his injured foot that limited him in his final season at Clemson, ending his rookie season before it even truly began. That wasn't even the tip of the iceberg in terms of the medical challenges he's faced. After undergoing a congenital fusion on his spine in 2020, Ross never knew if he'd be cleared to play football again.

“With Justyn (Ross), everyone kind of knows the story,” Chiefs GM Brett Veach told reporters in May of 2022. “He’s certainly a really talented individual that has gone through his share of injuries at Clemson. . . I’ve always said that our docs are on the more conservative side. We spent a lot of time, and I know our doctors at KU spent a lot of time talking to the experts that dealt with Justyn. He’s cleared.”

Recapturing college glory

Part of the reason that Ross went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft was because there were a lot of unknowns during the course of the pre-draft process. Beyond getting medical clearance, he tested much worse than expected at the Clemson pro day, with a 31.5-inch vertical, a 116-inch broad jump, and a 4.63 40-yard dash time.

There was genuine concern that his injuries had left him a shadow of the player he was in college, and he was quite the player.

He burst onto the scene in 2018 with a dominant freshman campaign, capped off with a gem in the championship game against Alabama. Remember, that Crimson Tide secondary featured NFL stars Trevon Diggs and Pat Surtain II. He followed it up with a solid sophomore season before injury would take hold of his career.

What's next?

When Ross plays against the Saints on Sunday afternoon, it'll be exactly 21 months since he last played a game of football. There are sure to be some nerves and anxiousness, but mostly just excitement.

“I'm very excited, man," Ross told reporters on Aug. 2. "Ready to go out there and take some hits, hopefully just have a great game and win the game.”

While the hype has created some level of expectations, he's not paying attention to it at all. In fact, he told reporters that he deleted his Twitter (X) account. Ross is really just looking to take advantage of his opportunity. After all, he didn't know if he would ever have this chance to begin with.

“Just take advantage of the opportunity," Ross said. "You never know what the future may bring, but right now, I’m just taking it day-by-day, step-by-step really.”

The next step is validating all the hype with his performance in the preseason. It won't take much, and a solid game will prove that in spite of his injury struggles up to this point, he belongs.