"All In" Justyn Ross to be used all over the field, not just slot receiver

Clemson head coach thinks Ross will have a stellar return.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jul 29 08:00:07 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Dabo Swinney told the media in the spring that standout receiver Justyn Ross would move from his usual outside receiver position to the slot once Ross was medically cleared to play this season. Ross spent a majority of the spring running routes out of that slot position, but wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham envisions Ross playing all over the field as a matchup nightmare.

Ross, who hopes to hear the final word on whether he will be able to play this season, missed all of 2020 after a congenital fusion issue was found in his neck. He had surgery last year to correct the condition but has been practicing in a limited fashion with the team since last fall.

Grisham said that Ross has turned into his group’s leader during his absence from the field.

“I'll first say that Justyn's done a phenomenal job as a leader. What we do as a staff, as we head into spring, we have our guys kind of vote on who's the most all-in offensive players,” Grisham said. “And we also kind of call out some guys that maybe aren't all-in. Throw their names up there and hold them accountable. And that's an important part, too, but Justyn had the most all-in votes for the wide receiver group and Will Swinney's right behind him. But Justyn is seen as a leader. And that was heading into spring, and that's coming off of a year of not playing, and not being in wide receiver meetings often. He's doing rehab and trying to recover. And so, coming off of that, he still was seen as a leader.

“And the feedback I've gotten this summer from the strength staff is that, even more so, he's seen as a leader. He's taken leaps and bounds in that area. He's kind of always been a quiet guy. Just always been a freak athlete. Did his thing and made plays. But with a guy like Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell gone, he's had to step into that role of the leader, of the lone senior. Obviously, Will Swinney's involved in that, too. And we are counting on Will a lot to lead, and he has done so this summer.”

Grisham said that Ross will play all over the field.

“He’s done a phenomenal job as a leader, worked his tail off in the weight room, and really bought in more so in the weight room. So he's ready to go,” Grisham said. “I believe that when he gets that word that he is clear, he's going to be ready to go and be confident and able to help us. And I think talking about his play, we're going to play him in the slot, but we're going to play him in the boundary. We're going to play into the field. I mean, you name it, we're going to put him where he needs to be to be successful, where he needs to be to help us as an offense because he can do so much. He's a 6'4" guy, but can run around like he's a six-footer. And that's what makes him so dynamic and so exciting to have on the roster because he can do so many things.”

Grisham said the coaches have used Mike Williams and his return from neck surgery to show Ross that it can be done.

“We met soon after he got the word, and he said, ‘Coach, I lost my baby.’ That's football, and that's what he's been great at for so long,” Grisham said. “And that was a really tough conversation to have with him. But again, our job was to stay positive with them. I mean, they're different situations, but you talk about Mike Williams, right? I mean, you have a great example of the guy that we expected him to be a first-rounder. He gets injured, misses that season, and then comes back and has another phenomenal year and is a first-rounder the following year.

“And so there's that hope. There's that example that we can show him, ‘Hey, listen, this is a guy that went through a really difficult injury and came back and performed really well and accomplished his dreams.’ So I think it was a tough time for him initially, for sure. But for him, you can just look at him and physically, he looks great. Watching him run routes in spring, you're just salivating. You're like, ‘My goodness, I wish this guy could be out here right now.’ And he was frustrated because he wants to compete, you know? And so he can run routes on air, but he couldn't compete in team segments in the spring, but just watching him out there again, you're like, ‘My goodness, that is a special, special talent.”