College Career

Over the course of his three playing-seasons at the University of Washington, Ross tallied 114 receptions, 1,729 receiving yards, and 22 touchdowns. He added an additional 195 yards and 2 touchdowns from 20 carries on the ground. These numbers are very back heavy.

In 2013 as a freshman, Ross only caught 16 balls for 208 yards, and 1 touchdown. In 2014 as a sophomore, he had 17 receptions, 371 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Ross was sidelined the entire 2015 season with a knee injury — more on this later. Thus, the bulk of John Ross’ college production came in his redshirt-junior season last year, when he was a key-piece in Washington’s College Football Playoff run. In 2016, Ross burned to a 81 reception, 1,150 yard, 17 touchdown line. Ross has always had speed, so why do we see such an enormous jump in production from his freshman to redshirt-junior season?

Chris Petersen and good health — oh and they stopped playing him on defense.

As a true freshman, Ross played all thirteen-games in 2013. Steve Sarkisian, then Washington’s Head Coach was enamored with Ross, but was hesitant to put too much on him too soon. In an effort to not put too much on him too soon, Sarkisian limited Ross at WR — his preferred position. Instead, Sark plugged him in on special teams and as a nickel-corner, because, you know, he was avoiding too much too soon. The main highlight from Ross’ freshman campaign was his 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Fight Hunger Bowl against UCLA.

2014 brought the end of Steve Sarkisian, who traded the rain of Seattle for the lights, booze, and pills of SoCal, and ushered in the Petersen era in Washington. Ross was poised to shine in Petersen’s offense, but he didn’t — at least not in the new Skip’s first year. As a sophomore, Ross suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee in the third game of the season. He struggled to find consistent playing time on offense, and actually started the Huskie’s final four games at cornerback.

Ross underwent knee surgery in January of 2015 to clean up the meniscus damage he suffered over the course of the previous season. He then suffered a non-contact injury in a spring practice and was forced to sit out the entire season.

In 2016, everything clicked. Ross came back healthy, the Huskies featured him as a WR instead of using him as a Swiss Army Knife, and he shined in Petersen’s offense. In the four years Ross spent at UW, he was underutilized in one, hampered by injuries in two, and went HAM in the last one. His speed will translate to the NFL, there is no doubt about that, but from a fantasy standpoint, will Ross be more of a DeSean Jackson or a Darrius Heyward-Bey?