Patrick Mahomes sounds hyped for this Chiefs WR who has zero career catches: ‘Talent is through the roof’

Patrick Mahomes has already rounded his receivers up for two throwing sessions this offseason and after working out with them multiple times, it seems that one specific receiver has already caught the quarterback’s eye: Justyn Ross. 

The former Clemson receiver signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in May 2022, but he didn’t play a single down last season due to injury. Ross underwent foot surgery before the start of the season, which caused him to miss the entire year.

Now that Ross is healthy, Mahomes has been extremely impressed by what he’s seen from the 23-year-old. 

“Yeah, I mean, the talent is through the roof, I think anybody can see that,” Mahomes said Monday when asked about Ross. “I think he’s gotten better and better and even though he wasn’t active all year long, he was in the building and he was able to see the guys and how we do things and listening and being in the meetings and some of the stuff like that.”

Ross’ foot surgery happened in July 2022, which means that not only did he miss the regular season, but he also missed all of training camp. Due to that fact, Mahomes had never really gotten to throw with Ross until this offseason. 

“I’m excited for him, to get out there and be able to get the reps in practice, get the little fine details that we like to do in this offense,” Mahomes said. “The talent is there, he works his tail off. I’m like, ‘Man, you have to ease up a little bit.’ He wants to run every route 100 times. You’d rather have to ease up on the guy, make him ease up on himself. You know he wants to work and to be the best player he could possibly be.”

If Ross can contribute at all in 2023, that would be a good thing for the Chiefs, who just lost their leading wide receiver in JuJu Smith-Schuster. Although Travis Kelce led the team in both receptions and receiving yards last season, Smith-Schuster put up the biggest numbers for any wide receiver on the team with 78 catches for 933 yards. The Chiefs also lost Mecole Hardman in free agency, which means there’s plenty of room on the roster for Ross. 

Ross could end up being a diamond in the rough for the Chiefs. During his freshman year at Clemson, not only did he lead the ACC in receiving yards (1,000), but he also became just the second ACC player since 2000 to record at least 1,000 receiving yards on 50 or fewer catches. 

After his freshman year, he looked like he was on his way to being a surefire top NFL draft pick once he became eligible, but then he was hit with health problems. Ross had to sit out the entire 2020 season after doctors discovered a congenital fusion in his spine. The receiver returned for the 2021 season, but his season got cut short due to a foot injury.

If Ross can stay healthy, he definitely has the talent to put up big numbers with the Chiefs and Mahomes seems to realize that after just a couple of throwing sessions with the former Clemson star.