A healthy Justyn Ross challenges for starting job among Chiefs wide receivers

As early as Justyn Ross‘ freshman year at Clemson, he seemed like a near lock for an NFL career. But a major medical condition threatened his football life.

But these days, the receiver is healthy, albeit rusty. After all, it’s been almost two years since he caught a pass in a competitive game. He may be emerging as another option for Patrick Mahomes in the Chief’s potent offense. Kansas City took a chance on Ross last year, signing him as an undrafted free agent. The team placed him on injured reserve the first week of training camp and he saw no action his rookie year.

That’s all about to change. Ross is seeing time with the first-team offense at Chiefs training camp. KC has needs at receiver after losing JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman. Ross could be the answer.

“Just to take advantage of the opportunity. You never know what the future may bring,” Justyn Ross told reporters this week. “But right now, I’m just taking it day-by-day, step-by-step, really.”

Coach Andy Reid likes to use a college football term to describe what’s happening with Justyn Ross.

“Yeah, he’s doing good. It was a redshirt year he probably didn’t want to have right with the injury,” Reid told reporters. “But he’s done a nice job. He had a good offseason, and then he’s worked his tail off here. He just needs to keep doing that. It’s how you answer the bell every day and push through it, but he’s got the right mindset to do that.”

If you’re a Clemson fan, you probably remember all the promise Ross showed back in 2018, his freshman year. He caught 46 passes for 1,000 yards. But it was the CFP semifinals and finals that introduced him to a nation of college football fans. He caught six passes for 148 yards and two long touchdowns in a semifinal rout of Notre Dame. Then in Clemson’s national title win over Alabama, Ross caught six passes from Trevor Lawrence for 153 yards and a touchdown.

But a back/neck problem curtailed his career at Clemson. He needed surgery to correct a congenital back condition called Klippel-Feil syndrome. That caused him to miss all of 2020. And it still scared away teams during the 2022 scouting process.

Mahomes certainly is noticing Ross.

“Yeah, he’s had a good one,” Mahomes said of Ross’ training camp performance. He said Ross is “learning the offense fast, you can tell he’s been in the offense for a year now. Obviously, making big plays, he’s getting more and more involved in those first-team reps. And so a guy that I have a lot of hope for that he can be a really good player in this offense.”