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Holy cow, John Ross wasn’t joking when he claimed he’d run a sub-4.3 40-yard dash at the 2017 NFL Combine. The 22-year-old Ross was unofficially clocked in at 4.22 during Saturday’s drills, which is better than Chris Johnson’s record time of 4.24 seconds. One scout reportedly clocked Ross at 4.19, which is just insane. Watch his performance below.
John Ross 4.22 pic.twitter.com/kBPWjYM3ap
— John Barchard (@JohnBarchard) March 4, 2017
Crazy!
Earlier this week, Mike Mayock mused Ross could be in play for when the Eagles pick at No. 14. Now you have to wonder if he’ll even make it to that point.
The Eagles one of their 60 official Combine interviews on Ross this week. The Washington Huskies receiver models his game after DeSean Jackson. Jackson actually called up Ross on his own to work out with him this offseason. Jackson also gave Ross a shoutout on Twitter today.
Philadelphia has sorely lacked a deep threat since the departure of Jackson (and Jeremy Maclin). Perhaps Ross is the guy the Eagles would love to pair with Carson Wentz. With that kind of blazing speed, it’s at least something they have to think about.
For more on Ross, check out BGN’s scouting report on him.
Ross, on top of being a speedster, has excellent ball skills to track the ball down field and also in terms of winning at the catch point. He is a very good route runner with great quickness who can generate separation very, very quickly through his routes. His hands are dependable in space, although he has more issues in traffic, but not for lack of effort. It is good that he is so quick because he rarely is in situations where he needs to make contested catches. After the catch, Ross has running back like skills as he runs hard and can make guys miss in the open field. Ross rarely gives up on a play and that type of effort is the reason he scores on an incredible 20% of his passes (Mike Williams scores on not even 13%). There is no doubt that John Ross is a dynamic, all around receiving threat.
You can watch game film on Ross via Draft Breakdown. Check out his highlights video below.