Report: Bengals looking to trade WR John Ross

[Logic]

I can't help but wonder what the story is with this guy behind the scenes. 

Players who run 4.22 and get drafted 9th overall don't tend to spend their whole rookie season inactive and get traded entering season three unless there's really something wrong.

This smells like the Corey Coleman thing to me. In Coleman's case, he was apparently a kinisthetic learner and was unable to learn NFL playbooks effectively. What's Ross's deal? 

[SCBills]

John Ross opposite Robert Foster would be a PROBLEM. 

 

Id give them a 4th in a second. 

[C.Biscuit97]

8 minutes ago, Logic said:

I can't help but wonder what the story is with this guy behind the scenes. 

Players who run 4.22 and get drafted 9th overall don't tend to spend their whole rookie season inactive and get traded entering season three unless there's really something wrong.

This smells like the Corey Coleman thing to me. In Coleman's case, he was apparently a kinisthetic learner and was unable to learn NFL playbooks effectively. What's Ross's deal? 

He can’t stay healthy seems to be the main issue. But you’re right, there probably is more to the story if they are giving up on him this quick.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I'll take all the speed we can get at WR and TE. 

[IgotBILLStopay]

Speedy guys complement Allen well. Always felt Goodwin would have been a good fit for Allen. So I am all for "wasting a 5th" on John Ross. He did catch 7 TDs in 10 games - so strangely enough for a speed guy, he does well in the red zone.

 

On the flip side, the concern I have with him is about how few of his targets he reeled in. I think he caught 21 out of 58 passes. If he has trouble catching Dalton's throws - Josh Allen may be too difficult for him to handle. That is why I dont want to offer more than a 5th.

 

This guy has Mayock / Gruden written all over him. Predicting he goes to Oakland. I think Mayock had him as the top wideout in his mock 2 years ago.

10 minutes ago, Logic said:

I can't help but wonder what the story is with this guy behind the scenes. 

Players who run 4.22 and get drafted 9th overall don't tend to spend their whole rookie season inactive and get traded entering season three unless there's really something wrong.

This smells like the Corey Coleman thing to me. In Coleman's case, he was apparently a kinisthetic learner and was unable to learn NFL playbooks effectively. What's Ross's deal? 

He can make a case that he was mismanaged by Marvin Lewis.

[John from Riverside]

13 minutes ago, 947 said:

The dude has 21 catches on 60 targets in his NFL career. There's no way the bengals get higher than a late 4th. Another cautionary tale about why game film matters a lot more than Combine numbers.

 

I'd be ok with trading a low pick for him, but his skillset is awfully similar to Foster.

That would be a good thing

[Seasons1992]

Guy hasn't done crap here in Cincy. Hard pass for me.

[John from Riverside]

5 minutes ago, IgotBILLStopay said:

Speedy guys complement Allen well. Always felt Goodwin would have been a good fit for Allen. So I am all for "wasting a 5th" on John Ross. He did catch 7 TDs in 10 games - so strangely enough for a speed guy, he does well in the red zone.

 

On the flip side, the concern I have with him is about how few of his targets he reeled in. I think he caught 21 out of 58 passes. If he has trouble catching Dalton's throws - Josh Allen may be too difficult for him to handle. That is why I dont want to offer more than a 5th.

 

This guy has Mayock / Gruden written all over him. Predicting he goes to Oakland. I think Mayock had him as the top wideout in his mock 2 years ago.

He can make a case that he was mismanaged by Marvin Lewis.

Same here....I would really like to see what Goodwin could have done with Josh......to me a late rounder for a clone of him would be AWESOME

 

Pair Ross with our breakout UDFA on the outside

Get a Quality TE to work the middle of the field

Rumble young man rumble

[YoloinOhio]

 

[MAJBobby]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

Monster speed guy, top 10 pick, has dealt with injuries and other things (he was inactive when healthy his first year) ... wonder what they want.

 

i could see Beane testing the market here as he pulled the trigger on Corey Coleman last year though it was a fail.

 

I would send a 4th easy to get this speed on the Roster with Allen’s Arm. 

[nucci]

36 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

Yes.  Get Allen a deep threat. That's what he is good at.  More speed more weapons the better.

we need guys who can get open on slants and post patterns that are 15 yards or so...can't go deep all the time and right now our pass blocking is not great

[Doc Brown]

Pretty bad when they're willing to give up on a top 10 pick after only two years.  I wouldn't bother with the guy.

[Turk71]

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/wr

https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/john-ross/11764

For whatever its worth, he was one of the lowest rated wrs in the league last year on both of these sites.

[teef]

this is some good ***** right here.

[TheBeane]

I'd be more than willing to throw a late round pick for him.  Why not?  You have just as much chance having a WR drafted in rounds 4 - 7 becoming serviceable as you do Ross.

[dpberr]

Will run a route about as good as a cross-eyed dog.  

 

Lots of fast athletes in the NFL.  Fewer precise route running WRs.  

[CaptnCoke11]

1 hour ago, BillsFan1988 said:

I watched him play a bunch of times he seems like one of those players that doesn't play as fast as his time is. He doesn't have player speed.

Is player speed a real term?

[DCOrange]

https://theathletic.com/750142/2019/01/04/will-new-bengals-coach-be-able-to-improve-billy-price-and-john-ross/

Long article from The Athletic, but it includes an excerpt regarding John Ross.

 

Quote

 

Last year, after Ross was put down for the remainder of the season after failing to catch a single pass, I wrote about how bleak of a start that is for a receiver’s career. That article basically said, if you play and fail to catch a pass, score a touchdown or make a sizable impact, there’s a very little chance that receiver will ever turn into the superstar those teams thought they drafted. In fact, if Ross produced anything in his sophomore season, it would be more than most of the players in the “Bust Bucket” ever accomplished. These rookies all dealt with injuries, being inactive or low on the depth chart and many of them never got it together. I wrote this piece fearing the worst for Ross.

I believed Ross’ talent could make him one of the few outliers. Of those in the “Bust Bucket,” names like Vincent Jackson, Santana Moss, Steve Smith (Giants) and Josh Doctson piqued my interest. They all had poor production as rookies, but each found a way to manage productive careers with a few Pro Bowl seasons mixed into this group. But what separated these four receivers from the rest of the group of busts? One statistic stood out in their second years.



It’s as simple as that. Those that found a way to score and help their teams in year two were able to turn that into more production as their careers grew. Ross caught seven touchdown passes in year two despite struggling with other areas of his game. Still, those struggles were also found in the receivers that emerged from the “Bust Bucket.”

Like Vincent Jackson (47 percent), Santana Moss (46 percent) and Josh Doctson (44 percent), Ross caught a very low percentage of the targets in his direction (35 percent) over the first two years of his career. Some of that can be attributed to how deep Ross was targeted. Like Doctson (13.8), Ross led his team in average depth of target (ADoT) at 13.9 in his sophomore season. And like Jackson, Moss and Docston, Ross wasn’t very high on the receiving pecking order for his team. Those other three receivers all caught the fifth-most balls on their respective teams while Ross came in at sixth for the Bengals.

Ross got a respectable 58 total targets in 2018, but advanced data marked only 32 of them to be catchable (55 percent) and Ross hauled in 21 of them. They marked 78 percent of A.J. Green’s, 81 percent of Tyler Boyd’s and 83 percent of Alex Erickson’s targets to be catchable – a much higher rate than Ross’ passes. When you factor in how deep Ross was targeted and how often he saw an off-target pass, his league-low catch-rate (36 percent) makes much more sense.

The Bengals really struggled to throw outside of the numbers and throw it deep and that’s where Ross expected to do most of his work. The video below is every deep target to Ross from this past season.

I’m not trying to excuse Ross of mistakes. He’s been full of them in year two. From missed assignments, bad routes and not locating the football, Ross has fueled the distrust this team obviously has in him. The worst part is the continued struggles catching the football. Ross led the team with seven drops this season. Most were clearly his fault as he looked uncomfortable, unready and unnatural. This wasn’t an issue in college, but seems to have sprouted up as he’s second-guessing his own abilities. I was told this was something he was working on during training camp and yet, in week 17, Ross still couldn’t catch the ball with his hands correctly.

Luckily for Ross and the Bengals, hands and route running can be fixed with time, reps and coaching. Not only can Ross strengthen his game, but we should hope new coaches scheme some easier targets, passes into the open field and give Ross some opportunities to run after the catch.

As frustrating as Ross’ second season was, his seven touchdowns take him out of the bust category and place him amongst a group of receivers that give hope. The new coach will hopefully recognize this and help Ross reach that potential.

 

 

I think he's worth a flier with a Day 3 pick at least. I'd guess we're talking about a 5th and I'd be fine committing to that.

Edited February 26, 2019 by DCOrange

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, BillsFan1988 said:

I watched him play a bunch of times he seems like one of those players that doesn't play as fast as his time is. He doesn't have player speed.

I agree with that, though he was a good college WR. He was coached to run at the combine, and there is nuance to playing the WR position, running routes and getting open that he hasn’t demonstrated yet. 

 

However - I’ll point out that Ted Ginn Jr was drafted that high too and was on Mount Bustmore after his first couple years - all he could do was run fast, they said. He’s now entering his 14th season and while he’s never been an all pro he has certainly contributed after developing into a good WR. 

[Bill_with_it]

He’s a complete bust both knees are jacked. He’s had numerous injuries and is one hit from being out of the league for good. I said something very similiar before his draft and was laughed at. He’s worth about as much as a worn out pair of cleats.