Clemson Football: Expect Justyn Ross to thrive in 2019

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Justyn Ross #8 of the Clemson Tigers scores a third quarter seventy four yard touchdown reception against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Justyn Ross #8 of the Clemson Tigers scores a third quarter seventy four yard touchdown reception against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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Justyn Ross had an impressive 1,000 receiving yards in his freshman year with Clemson football, and he’s just scratching the surface of his potential.

Just about everything went right for Clemson in the 2018 season. After running a two-quarterback system, Trevor Lawrence took over and instantly became the future of college football. Tons of younger players stepped up in key roles, and that boost carried the Clemson Tigers all the way to the national championship, where they routed the Alabama Crimson Tide. I can’t think of many goals that they didn’t achieve last season.

Part of what made them successful was the emergence of Justyn Ross, a freshman star at wide receiver. Ross is from Phenix City, Alabama, and Clemson managed to steal him out of Alabama and Auburn’s backyard. In his first season, he racked up 1,000 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. This was despite having a mobile quarterback for the first four games as well. Ross had to overcome a lot of adversity, and it made him a better player. He will be even better in 2019.

There are some obvious reasons why you should expect more from Ross in his sophomore season. With Hunter Renfrow in the NFL and Amari Rodgers injured, it will mostly be Ross and Tee Higgins at wide receiver. You can also expect Lawrence to get better, and the chemistry between the two of them will grow.

You also saw the best out of Ross in his final two games of the season. He averaged over 150 receiving yards in those games, and he only got more than 100 yards in a game one other time that season.

Ross also got more targets later in the season. Overall, he only averaged about three catches a game. This year, that number should be approaching five a game. I know that Clemson likes to spread the ball around to remain balanced, but you have to give a player like Ross more chances with the ball. It seemed as if he would score every time the caught the ball, and that won’t stop by giving him more touches.

The only statistic I see declining for Ross this season is his average number of yards per catch. Once he gets closer to 60 catches on a season, the outlier touchdowns for 50-plus yards will have less of an effect on the average. However, every other number will rise. Expect for Ross to have plenty more catches, yards, and touchdowns in 2019.

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With another summer under his belt to grow his game, Clemson fans should be expecting big things out of Justyn Ross in 2019. He will get more opportunities to show his strengths, and he will make the best of them.