John Ross (American football)

John Ellis Ross III (born November 27, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Washington, and was drafted by the Bengals ninth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.

For other people named John Ross, see John Ross (disambiguation).

John Ross
No. 11 – Cincinnati Bengals
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1995-11-27) November 27, 1995
Long Beach, California
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:194 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Jordan (Long Beach, California)
College:Washington
NFL Draft:2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Receptions:51
Receiving yards:733
Receiving touchdowns:10
Rushing yards:25
Rushing touchdowns:0
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

As a child, Ross played in Snoop Dogg's All-Star league.[3] Ross attended Jordan High School in Long Beach, California. He played wide receiver and cornerback in football and ran track. As a senior, Ross finished third in the 100 metres at the 2013 CIF Southern Section Division 1 final, with a time of 10.66 seconds. He also recorded a time of 21.56 seconds in the 200m.[4]

Regarded as a four-star recruit by ESPN, Ross was ranked as the No. 49 overall prospect in the state of California.[5] He committed to the University of Washington to play college football.[6]

College career

Ross played in all 13 games as a true freshman at Washington in 2013. He finished the year with 16 receptions for 208 yards and one touchdown as a receiver and had 720 kick return yards and a touchdown.[7] In 2014, he played in 13 of 14 games, with seven starts as a receiver and four as a cornerback. That season, he had 17 receptions for 371 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver, 12 tackles and an interception as a cornerback, and had 938 return yards and two touchdowns.[8][9] Ross missed the 2015 season after suffering a torn ACL during spring practices.[10] Ross returned from the injury in 2016 and had five receptions for 90 yards with two receiving touchdowns and a kick return touchdown in his first game back against Rutgers.[11][12][13] On January 3, 2017, Ross announced his decision to forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft.[14] On February 10, 2017, it was revealed that Ross was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his shoulder. He injured his shoulder earlier during the 2016 season, and re-aggravated it on December 31 in a loss against Alabama in the 2016 Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff. The injury required surgery, but Ross decided to put it on hold until after the NFL Scouting Combine and pro day workouts.[15]

College statistics
John RossReceiving
YearTeamGPRecYardsTDs
2013Washington13162081
2014Washington13173714
2015Washington
Medical redshirt
2016Washington13811,15017
College totals391091,70122

Professional career

Coming out of college, Ross was predicted to be selected in the first round by draft experts and analysts. He was considered one of the top wide receivers and was ranked the second best by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks before the combine.[16] As a top wide receiver prospect, he received an invitation to the NFL Combine and broke Chris Johnson's 4.24 record time in the 40-yard dash. Ross finished with a 4.22, but strained his calves while pulling up at the end of his run. The calf injuries hindered his ability to complete all the set combine drills or run his second attempt at the 40-yard dash.[17][18] Ross attended Washington's Pro Day, but only ran positional drills. The next day, he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder.[19] He was ranked as the third best wide receiver prospect in the draft by ESPN and was ranked the second best wide receiver prospect by Sports Illustrated and NFLDraftScout.com.[20][21]

External video
John Ross' NFL Combine workout
John Ross' 40-yard dash
Ross' NFL Combine Press Conference
John Ross' Washington Pro Day workout
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
5 ft 10 3⁄4 in
(1.80 m)		 188 lb
(85 kg)		 31 1⁄2 in
(0.80 m)		 8 3⁄4 in
(0.22 m)		 4.22 s 1.49 s 2.47 s 4.35 s 37 in
(0.94 m)		 11 ft 1 in
(3.38 m)
All values from NFL Combine[22]

2017 season

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Ross in the first round (9th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.[23] He was the third wide receiver to be selected after Corey Davis and Mike Williams.[24]

External video
Bengals select John Ross ninth overall
John Ross' NFL Draft interview

On May 7, 2017, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Ross to a four-year, $17.1 million contract with a signing bonus of $10.6 million.[25][26]

Ross competed with Brandon LaFell, Cody Core, Tyler Boyd, and Josh Malone throughout training camp to be the starting wide receiver alongside A. J. Green. Although he was a first round pick, head coach Marvin Lewis named him the sixth wide receiver on the depth chart to begin the regular season.[27]

On September 14, 2017, Ross made his professional regular season debut on Thursday Night Football against the Houston Texans after missing the season-opener due to a knee injury. He fumbled his first and only carry of the game, and was subsequently benched after gaining only 12 rushing yards as the Bengals lost, 13–9.[28] That carry proved to be his only touch of his rookie season, as he was only active for two out of the next 10 games and did not record any statistics. A knee injury caused him to miss Weeks 3–5 while the rest were healthy scratches. He was placed on injured reserve on December 4, 2017, with a shoulder injury, ending his rookie season.[29] His debut season was variously described as "wasted",[30] "disappointing"[31] and "disastrous",[32] with Marvin Lewis coming under a lot of criticism for his management of Ross.[33]

2018 season

In the 2018 season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, Ross recorded his first professional touchdown on a three-yard reception in the 34–23 victory.[34] In the 2018 season, Ross had 21 receptions for 210 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.[35]

2019 season

During Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, Ross posted a breakout performance with seven catches for 158 receiving yards and two touchdowns, but the Bengals lost a close game, 21–20.[36] During Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers, Ross finished with four catches for 112 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Bengals lost, 41–17. In only the first two games of the 2019 season, Ross compiled more receiving yards than his initial two NFL seasons combined.[37] On October 2, 2019, the Bengals placed Ross on injured reserve as a result of his shoulder injury.[38] He was designated for return from injured reserve on November 13, 2019, and began practicing with the team again.[39] On December 3, 2019, Ross was activated from injured reserve.[40] Overall, Ross finished the 2019 season with 28 receptions for 506 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.[41]

2020 season

On May 2, 2020, the Bengals declined the fifth-year option on Ross' contract, making him a free agent in 2021. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on August 12, after he left training camp to tend to his son who tested positive for the disease.[42] He was activated from the list on August 23.[43] On October 30, 2020, Ross tweeted that "It's not a secret that I have requested a trade." Despite Ross' statement, he was not traded by the NFL trade deadline.[44] He was placed on injured reserve on November 14, 2020 after suffering a foot injury in practice.[45]

Career statistics
SeasonTeamGames ReceivingRushing
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTD
2017CIN 31000.00011212.0120
2018CIN 13102121010.039T7492.370
2019CIN 882850618.166T3341.350
2020 CIN 3 1 2 17 8.5 15 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Total27205173314.466T108253.1120

References
  1. "Pac-12 Football Awards And All-Conference Team Announced". Pac-12. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  2. Washington leads AP All-Pac-12 team with 6 players. Collegefootball.ap.org. Retrieved on January 2, 2017.
  3. Boilard, Kevin (November 13, 2017). "John Ross describes what it was like to play for Snoop Dogg". Cincinnati Bengals. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  4. "CIF-SS Division 1 Finals - Track & Field Meet". Athletic.net.
  5. "John Ross - Football Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  6. Guardabascio, Mike. "Football: Jordan's John Ross Commits To Washington". www.Gazettes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  7. "John Ross 2013 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  8. "John Ross 2014 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  9. Jennings, Chantel (April 13, 2016). "John Ross making the most of his return to Huskies this spring". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  10. Caple, Christian. "University of Washington wide receiver John Ross III will miss 2015 season with leg injury". The News Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  11. "Rutgers at Washington Box Score, September 3, 2016". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  12. Stone, Larry (September 3, 2016). "Huskies' John Ross returns in storybook fashion". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  13. Myhre, Rich (September 3, 2016). "After recovering from torn ACL, UW's Ross turns dream into reality". HeraldNet.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  14. "Washington Huskies". Washington Huskies.
  15. Goodbread, Chase (February 10, 2017). "John Ross to undergo shoulder surgery after combine, pro day". NFL.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  16. Brooks, Bucky (January 18, 2017). "Top 5 2017 NFL Draft prospects by position". NFL.com. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  17. "John Ross III runs 40-yard dash in record 4.22 seconds at NFL Combine". Sportsnet. March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  18. Goodbread, Chase (March 4, 2017). "John Ross runs 4.22 40-yard dash, breaks Chris Johnson's record". NFL.com. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  19. "*John Ross, DS #2 WR, Washington". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  20. Legwold, Jeff (April 22, 2017). "Ranking 2017 Draft's Top 100 Players". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  21. Burke, Chris (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL draft rankings: Top prospects by position". si.com. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  22. "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - John Ross". www.nfl.com.
  23. Orr, Conor (April 27, 2017). "Bengals take 40-yard dash champion John Ross". NFL.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  24. "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  25. Hagemann, Andie (May 7, 2017). "John Ross signs rookie contract". NFL.com. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  26. Orr, Conor (May 16, 2017). "John Ross tired of defending medical history". NFL.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  27. "Cincinnati Bengals: Depth chart". Fox Sports. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  28. Beers, Brad. "John Ross fumbles, benched in first NFL game". Fantasy Pros. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  29. Marcum, Jason (December 6, 2017). "Bengals place John Ross on Injured Reserve". CincyJungle.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  30. Cosenza, Anthony (December 9, 2017). "Conspiracy theories surrounding the wasted rookie season of John Ross". Cincy Jungle. SB Nation. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  31. Terrell, Katherine (November 9, 2017). "From No. 9 overall to healthy scratch: John Ross' disappointing rookie season". ESPN. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  32. Breech, John (December 6, 2017). "Bengals place 2017 first-rounder John Ross on IR after disastrous rookie season". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  33. Smith, Michael David (April 1, 2018). "Marvin Lewis stands by John Ross despite dreadful rookie year". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  34. Roling, Chris (September 9, 2018). "Bengals highlights: John Ross scores first NFL touchdown". Bengals Wire. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  35. "John Ross 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  36. "Close call: Seahawks hold off Dalton, Bengals for 21-20 win". www.espn.com. Associated Press. September 8, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  37. "Garoppolo throws 3 TDs, 49ers roll over Bengals 41-17". www.espn.com. Associated Press. September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  38. Dragon, Tyler (October 2, 2019). "Cincinnati Bengals place wide receiver John Ross (shoulder) on reserve/injured list". Cincinnati.com. USA Today Network. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  39. "John Ross Cleared To Practice". Bengals.com. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  40. Shook, Nick. "Bengals activate John Ross from injured reserve". NFL.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  41. "John Ross 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  42. Baby, Ben (August 12, 2020). "Bengals place receiver John Ross on reserve/COVID-19 list". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  43. "Bengals Place DT Renell Wren On The Reserve/Injured list, John Ross Activated". Bengals.com. August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  44. Kerr, Jeff (October 30, 2020). "John Ross on trade request ahead of NFL trade deadline: 'Believe me, it's not football that I don't like'". cbssports.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  45. "Hubbard, Phillips, Ross Among Bengals Player Moves Ahead Of Week 10 At Pittsburgh". Bengals.com. November 14, 2020.
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