Washington Speedster John Ross Became a Breakout Star Because of Injuries

Washington junior receiver John Ross III was back in his hometown of Long Beach, California, this summer when he met his boyhood idol, DeSean Jackson.

The Washington Redskins receiver is also a Long Beach native, and Ross, a projected first-round pick, is often compared to Jackson. Both are under 6’0” and electric once the football is in their hands because of their speed. The defining play of Ross’ breakout junior season—he’s tied for second nationally with 17 touchdowns—came against Jackson’s alma mater, the Cal Bears, and is reminiscent of the zig-zag wizardry Jackson displayed early in his career.

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Jackson could see that Ross was already amazing in space. He already had the speed—clocked at 4.25 seconds in the 40-yard dash last spring. But Jackson’s message to Ross was one he had been in the process of learning: Slow down.

"He was telling me to use my speed but know when to use my speed," Ross said. "Just because you’re the fastest guy on the field, it doesn’t mean you have to run all your routes at full speed. There’s other ways to get open. The best way to get open is not to run full speed."

Ross had been defined by his speed until tearing the ACL in his left knee during spring ball of 2015.

As a sophomore, he scored seven touchdowns as a receiver, rusher and return man that covered 91, 20, 55, 75, 86, 100 and 96 yards. He scored the final three of those on a torn MCL, which he injured against Illinois in the third game of the season but was unaware of the damage because he skipped the X-ray. He also started at cornerback in the final four games that season, replacing current Kansas City Chiefs star corner Marcus Peters when he got dismissed from the program.

Despite a bio that screamed versatility, Ross was a one-tool player, reliant on his wheels and not much else.

During the recovery process, which forced him to miss the 2015 season, Ross studied film of himself and other receivers, and he reshaped his body.

"Up top, I got heavy, real heavy up top," he said. "My body was weird, and everybody would laugh at me because I was so big up top and small at the bottom."

Ross wanted to get to work quickly regaining strength in his legs as well, but he had former Washington running back Deontae Cooper in his ear preaching patience.

"You want to do more than what your body is ready for," said Cooper, who had three ACL tears during his career at Washington. "I think when he was going through it, 'Oh, I’m feeling good. I’m feeling good.' And I kept reminding him, 'Take your time. Don’t rush this thing.'"

Cooper spent his final season this past year as a graduate transfer at San Jose State, but his impact was still felt by the Huskies as he had served as Ross’ ACL whisperer.

"To see him do it after three knee surgeries, why would I worry after one? Everything he brought to the table was positive," Ross said. "He always uplifted me and he was always in my ear: 'You’re going to be so much better—you don’t even know it. You’re going to be so much stronger—you don’t even know it.' It was hard to believe, but everything came true."

The dream season has Ross on the cusp of becoming a first-round draft pick and his team in the College Football Playoff against top-ranked Alabama.

The Crimson Tide are heavy favorites, but if there’s a player on the Washington side who could change the game, it’s Ross.

"He’s got to believe that he can be the best player in this game," Washington wide receivers coach Bush Hamdan said. 

One of Alabama’s lone vulnerabilities is in the secondary without safety Eddie Jackson, who would have the best chance of keeping up with Ross. If there's a blueprint on how to attack Alabama, Ole Miss showed back in mid-September that it's to try to attack Bama going deep. 

Ross knows how to get behind a defense, and it's not just "go fast."

During his recovery year, he figured that out, as he found on tape some of the answers that had left him perplexed on the field.

"I would line up across from guys, and the only thing I would think is: 'I know he’s not faster than me.' What people don’t understand is it’s not about your speed," Ross said. "There are a lot of guys who are amazing DBs who aren’t fast, and it’s technique.

"We have amazing DBs on our team—Kevin King and Sidney Jones—and those guys aren’t as fast as I am, but they will win some battles because of technique, and they’re smart. I always wondered why. Why am I running a go route and this guy is on my hip when I know he nowhere near as fast as me? It was technique. On film, I’d watch what they were doing right and what I was doing wrong. It was basically showing me I’m going to win every time if I do this. Once I figured my technique out, everything started getting better and easier."

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Ross also used the year away to form a bond with quarterback Jake Browning, who started as a true freshman in 2015 when Ross was sidelined. The two were neighbors, and Ross served as a sounding board for Browning during his first season as the starter. They also started to talk about their offseason plans, realizing they were important to each other’s futures.

"Once I was cleared and once the bowl game was finished, every chance we got to throw, we started to throw," Ross said. "We wanted to get our timing down immediately."

Ross has also benefited from the addition of Hamdan, a former Boise State quarterback who played under head coach Chris Petersen.

Hamdan is the first full-time receivers coach Ross has ever had, and this season is the first he’s been able to focus exclusively on offense.

Ross needed an expert, because in many ways, he was a novice to the position.

"The first week of camp I was struggling," Ross said. "I was trying to do so much. I’d watched so much film of Antonio Brown and Julio Jones, and I was trying to do everything those guys do, and I was trying to do too much. [Hamdan] told me to slow down, be yourself and just listen to what I’m telling you. It started to show up, everything he was teaching me. The game started to slow down, and I just started trusting the technique he was showing me, and it started to change from there.”

Ross put it all to work in the first game of the season. His first touchdown was a go route in the opener against Rutgers, where he set his man up with some stutter steps at the line, sidestepped the corner to avoid bump coverage and then used his quickness to get separation.  

"He’s probably been the most special kid I’ve ever coached," Hamdan said. "I know you always say that about guys who are really good players, but just his willingness to learn and get extra work and film study. He was constantly talking to me, 'How can I do this? How can I do that?' 

"The biggest thing he taught me was guys can change."

With the knowledge of how to play the position, the numbers started to pile up. Ross had a pair of touchdowns catches in each of the first two games. He’s had at least four catches in all but one game all season, and the Cal performance (six catches for 208 yards and three TDs) was the receiver's version of the Heisman moment.

The 67-yard TD catch that played on an endless loop on highlight shows that night was set up by Ross' executing the technique he learned, then allowing his gifts to take over once he had the ball.

Ross was supposed to be the clear-out guy for the slot receiver running a corner route, but he got such a good release at the line of scrimmage that he got behind the defense, and Browning hit him deep.

"The ball was underthrown, and in my head I knew they were over-pursuing," Ross said. "I knew they were going to be running as fast as they can to not let me score, so I stopped and they all ran by me. I looked behind me real fast and a guy was right in my face. I don’t know what told me to duck, but I just ducked and it worked. I saw Dante [Pettis], and I was like I’m going to run towards Dante and he made a crucial block, and I ended up scoring."

In the Pac-12 Championship Game against Colorado, Ross made jaws drop again, but this time with his hands. He caught a ball that appeared intended for the sideline with one hand and then ran past the shocked Buffaloes to the end zone.

"I jumped and hoped the ball would hit my hand, and once it did I came down and I had the ball, and I was like, oh. I didn’t know I caught it."

You could call that catch "the happy accident," which is an appropriate title to the story of Ross’ career.

Had he not tore his ACL, would he be where he is now?

"I remember watching him in 2014, and he was just a fast guy. He was like a track player, almost," Bleacher Report NFL draft expert Matt Miller said. "Because of the knee injuries, I don’t think he’s so reliant on just being a speed guy."

Now Miller sees Ross as a great route-runner who understands the intricacies of the position and has "a deeper understanding of how to get open."

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Miller has Ross as the third receiver on his board and slotted in the first round. He sees the comparison to Jackson, because of the size, speed and route running, but the year away allowed Ross to pass his idol by as a physical specimen.  

"I think he’s going to get knocked a little bit for the size thing, but he’s one of those guys who is short but he isn’t small," Miller said. "That’s one thing a lot of people don’t understand. He has the build to handle the NFL, and he’s become a good enough route-runner too that he should be able to come out and make plays right away."

Ross will also enter the NFL next season—assuming he skips his senior season—with an understanding of how to study the game. He’s at the point where he believes whatever he focuses his mind and body on, he can achieve.

Following the playoff, the next focus will be the NFL draft combine. The 40-yard dash record time is 4.24 seconds set by Chris Johnson.

Ross ran his 4.25, he says, before the Huskies were really training, and he was only a year removed from his surgery.

"So maybe if I get in, work hard, I think I’d have a decent shot at [the record]," Ross said.

That will surely excite NFL talent evaluators, but there will be a lot more in their reports on Ross that goes beyond speed.

C.J. Moore covers college basketball and football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.