‘I’m back to that old me’: Justyn Ross sounds off on health at NFL combine
Clemson receiver Jusyn Ross is back to his old self — at least he feels like he is.
Speaking with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday in Indianapolis, Ross was queried extensively on his health record that limited him over his final two years with the Tigers.
“There’s a lot of doubt out there,” he said. “Even with me playing this season, there’s still a lot of doubt. But I feel good about it.”
Ross burst onto the scene as a freshman, corralling 46 catches for 1,000 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. He also notched 12 catches for 301 yards and a trio of scores over Clemson’s College Football Playoff matchups against Notre Dame and Alabama.
But as good as Ross was early, injuries have stifled what started as a promising career. He sat out the entire 2020 season due to having surgery on a congenital fusion in his spine that he unknowingly was born with and required surgery. Due to the nature of the condition, some feared his football career might end prematurely. Ross was further limited in 2021 due to what he called a stress fracture in his foot that he played with for the majority of the season.
The Alabama product didn’t play in any of Clemson’s final three games due to the foot injury, finishing his final season as a Tiger with 46 receptions for 546 yards and three touchdowns.
“I feel like I’m back to that old Justyn,” he said. “Even this year with this year I was dealing with a lot — playing through that injured foot and everything like that. So I feel like I’m back to that old me.”
In a draft that’s short on a definitive No. 1 receiver, Ross is a player who can boost his stock plenty over the coming weeks. He won’t work out in Indianapolis, but noted he’s met with plenty of teams since he arrived in the Midwest.
Ross felt destined to be a first-round pick after his first fall at Clemson. He may still be, but it’s the injury history that has teams doing their due diligence. He noted on Tuesday that he and his agent worked through mock interviews in anticipation of the medical questions he’d face from teams and reporters.
“I was confident in my doctor,” Ross said of David Okonkwo, the director of the Neurotrauma Clinical Trials Center at the University of Pittsburgh. “He was telling me I’m gonna be OK and everything. I had complete faith in him, so I was confident throughout the whole process, even when I wasn’t cleared.
CBS Sports has Ross rated as the No. 65 prospect in the 2022 NFL Draft Class. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. didn’t have the former Clemson pass-catcher ranked among his top-10 receiver prospects in his latest big board ahead of the NFL Combine.
That Ross isn’t slotted in that top-tier of receivers in this year’s draft doesn’t preclude him from moving up the board if team’s as good about him physically as he does.
The 2022 draft class lacks a true standout No. 1 receiver outside of perhaps Arkansas’ Treylon Burks. Alabama’s Jameson Williams, Southern Cal’s Drake London, and Georgia’s George Pickens could all conceivably be picked in the first round, but projections vary.
CBS also ranks Penn State’s Jahan Dotson and Purdue’s David Bell above Ross, who won’t work out at this week’s combine.
For Ross, Clemson’s on-campus Pro Day on March 17 becomes all the more crucial should he participate in the testing and on-field work.
“I feel like I can go through the roof,” Ross said when asked what his ceiling might be. “I feel like I can go through the roof because of my ability, my size and everything that I come with.”
Tuesday, the former top-50 recruit said everything NFL teams hoped he might. He feels healthy. He’s confident. He’s ready to attack whatever chance he’s given at the professional level.
If Ross holds up physically, he’s as talented as any of the receivers slotted above him on NFL Draft boards. That, though, remains a big “if.”
—The State’s Ben Portnoy contributed to this story
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 12:22 PM.
