The Jacksonville Jaguars added Dyami Brown and Travis Hunter to their wide receivers corps in the offseason. All things considered, they're in great shape at the position, but that shouldn't deter them from looking for potential depth pieces. Just recently, the Kansas City Chiefs released a receiver who used to catch passes from Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, and it wouldn't hurt to give him a look before the start of the regular season.
The Chiefs cut ties with Justyn Ross after having asked for his release one week prior. After going undrafted in 2022, the former Tiger signed with Kansas City and went on to appear in 12 games with one start, hauling in six receptions for 53 yards.
There was no longer room for Ross with the Chiefs after the arrival of rookie Justin Royals and the return of JuJu Smith-Schuster. Heck, you could make the case that the writing had been on the wall for him for a while.
This begs the question, why should the Jags give the Phenix City, Alabama native a look? The biggest one is that he was a stud while catching passes from Lawrence back at college, hauling 158 receptions for 2,379 yards with 20 touchdowns across three seasons. On the other hand, there's a reason he hasn't had much success at the NFL level.
Ross missed the 2020 season with a back condition and suffered a foot fracture the following year. His medical red flags were the reason he went undrafted. Things didn't get much better when he joined the Chiefs, as a foot injury wiped out his rookie campaign.
To make matters worse, Ross was never able to stand out despite the fact that the Chiefs struggled at receiver last year.
Related: Pre-training camp AFC South quarterback rankings: Where does Trevor Lawrence sit?
Why the Jaguars should kick the tires on Justyn Ross
If Justyn Ross wants to keep his NFL career alive, he'll need to prove he can stay healthy. On the other hand, he could benefit from a fresh start. Thus, the Jacksonville Jaguars should extend a training camp invite. Leaving aside the Trevor Lawrence factor, they need to sort out their receiver depth chart.
Four spots are virtually earmarked for Dyami Brown, Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, and Parker Washington. Depending on how many receivers the team's brass wants to keep, one or two more could be up for grabs. Veteran Trenton Irwin is a candidate for one, and Ross could compete for the other.
Currently, the Jags have Austin Trammell, sophomore Joshua Cephus, Louis Rees-Zammit, and a trio of undrafted free agents in the mix. Nobody appears to have a leg up ahead of training camp, so Ross could come in and compete. At this point, the risk is minimal, and maybe catching passes from Lawrence could help him hit his stride. And if he fails to make an impression, Jacksonville can simply move on from him.
The bottom line is that inviting Justyn Ross to training camp is a low-risk move that could end up giving the Jags depth at wide receiver.
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