Kansas City Chiefs undrafted free agent receiver Justyn Ross has made quite the stir so far this offseason.
The most recent buzz comes from a highlight-reel one-handed catch during the first day of OTA practices. Speaking to the media for the first time during OTAs on Thursday, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was asked to provide his first impression of Ross.
The first thing that pops out to Mahomes is that after the long road traveled to get healthy, Ross still has it.
“You still see the talent,” Mahomes told reporters. “That’s the first thing. I mean you saw the catch on Twitter, but the way he catches the football out of the air, he snatches it. There are no drops or anything like that.”
Drops were a problem for the Chiefs in 2021, with Mahomes’ receiving corps leading the league in dropped passes by the season’s end. While Ross’ ability to catch the ball certainly stands out to Mahomes, he notes that Ross still has a long way to go when it comes to learning Andy Reid’s offense.
“Now, it’s about him learning the NFL offense,” Mahomes said. “That’s how it is for every rookie when they come in. You don’t see that top talent that they can be until they learn and can just play fast. I think you’ve seen the splashes of how talented he can be and then you see times where he’s just barely off of what we wanted. And he learns from that and he doesn’t make that same mistake.”
It’s all still developing and coming together for Ross, but it’s easy for Mahomes to see the potential here. With time, he expects great things from the undrafted free agent receiver.
“Just the more and more reps that he gets, I can only imagine how good he’s going to be because of the talent that he possesses,” Mahomes concluded.
