The Athletic's Jay Morrison reports John Ross has struggled with consistency during spring practices.
This comes after teammate Tyler Boyd suggested Ross was still having trouble picking up the offense. Ross isn't off to a great start, though that's not surprising given his history of lapses. Playing under a new coaching staff, Ross is entering a make-or-break 2019.

Source: The Athletic
Jun 15, 2019, 12:41 PM ET

He changed is number from 15 to 11, so I'm sure that will help.

This has to be his last chance. If he’s really having trouble learning the playbook, maybe look into visiting with a psychologist and start taking Ritalin or something. This is his career. His livelihood. If he can’t buckle down and focus on the task at hand, something is seriously wrong with him. I hope Ross can get it together. Quick.

I suppose it's possible Ross is just a dud at practice, but the guy just seems like a real wild card when he's involved in a play. How many boring plays have involved John Ross? Any time the ball is headed his way you just hold your breath and await the TD or turnover. I wouldn't mind if they worked him into the rotation more, but I'm watching for the entertainment of it all. If I had my way the guy would be on the field a lot AND he'd be returning kicks and punts because holy crap, how much would your bum pucker every time the ball was sailing his way?

With that being said, we can go down the list of Ross excuses...

2017 - he's a rookie, Marvin hates him
2018 - he's still sort of a rookie, Marvin hates him and he needs a new system
2019 - he's got to learn a new system, he barely played with Dalton....maybe ZT will hate him?
2020 onward - If we let Ross go he's gonna go to the Steelers/Patriots and they'll coach him up and make us sorry

It's almost as if that guy's not very good or something...

Hated the pick, but I try to pull for the guy, but he doesn't give me much to work with. It was pretty damn exciting when he caught that long TD vs Buffalo last preseason though.

(07-04-2019, 04:33 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I suppose it's possible Ross is just a dud at practice, but the guy just seems like a real wild card when he's involved in a play.  How many boring plays have involved John Ross?  Any time the ball is headed his way you just hold your breath and await the TD or turnover.  I wouldn't mind if they worked him into the rotation more, but I'm watching for the entertainment of it all.  If I had my way the guy would be on the field a lot AND he'd be returning kicks and punts because holy crap, how much would your bum pucker every time the ball was sailing his way?  

With that being said, we can go down the list of Ross excuses...

2017 - he's a rookie, Marvin hates him
2018 - he's still sort of a rookie, Marvin hates him and he needs a new system
2019 - he's got to learn a new system, he barely played with Dalton....maybe ZT will hate him?
2020 onward - If we let Ross go he's gonna go to the Steelers/Patriots and they'll coach him up and make us sorry

I just want him to be the 35 year old father-of-three "rookie".

At least it will hit me in the feels.

(07-04-2019, 04:48 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: I just want him to be the 35 year old father-of-three "rookie".

At least it will hit me in the feels.

Cagey veteran when he's 65.

Ross is an easy guy to write these type of articles about. Do we have any proof of his most recent inconsistencies? Nah, not really, but it's believable so it passes.

I'll withhold judgement on Ross until this season. Hopefully it all clicks with the new direction on offense.

(07-04-2019, 04:51 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Ross is an easy guy to write these type of articles about. Do we have any proof of his most recent inconsistencies? Nah, not really, but it's believable so it passes.

I'll withhold judgement on Ross until this season. Hopefully it all clicks with the new direction on offense.

Well, his recent inconsistencies seem pretty similar to the ones he's had for the past 2 years so I'd wager we may need to see proof he's changed moreso than proof he hasn't.  I'm not saying the guy is done for, but it's not like this article is saying that Andy Dalton is shooting up in the locker room or something absurd.

The way I sees it, the big reasons given for Ross disappointing were Marvin, Zampese, and Lazor. I suppose we will eventually know if those people were to blame OR if Callahan, ZT and/or Dalton are to blame for Ross not living up to his draft status.

I am the guy who always says you can't judge any player by his roookie season.  A lot of very good players have done nothing their first year.   Some even take more than a year to fully develop, but if they are on their way to a big career you will see a big improvement in the second year.  Other than the TDs Ross was horrible last year.  I know "catch percentage" has not been around for a real long time, but I don't recall ever seeing one as low as Ross's last year (36.2).  And if you take away his five catches on 6 targets inside the 10 it drops to 30.2.  You can't blame poor QB play because none of our other WRs had catch rates anywhere near that low.

Ross's efficiency inside the ten last year is one of the most puzzling things I have ever seen.  It is harder to get open inside the ten because the defense has so much less area to cover.  If his td rate was due to some skill then he would be killing it between the twenties where he would have more room to move.  It had to be just some weird coincidence involving coverage matchups in the red zone.

Ross played almost every snap the second half of the season.  Overall he averaged 46 snaps for his 13 games (Bengals averaged 59 offensive plays per game).  He only had 19 fewer targets than Green (58 to 77) and had more targets than the next two WRs (Erickson, Core) combined.  Ross had more targets than any of our RBs.  Uzomah had just 6 more targets than Ross but more than twice as many receptions (43 to 21) and yards (439 to 210).  It wasn't like Ross was stuck on the bench or the QBs wouldn't throw to him.  He just was not very good.

Of course there is still a chance that Ross blossoms into a star.  Adam Thielen did not miss a game his first two seasons but had fewer catches (20) than Ross (21).  But Thielen's catch percentage was in the 60's each of his first two years.  It is possible that Ross will have a breakout season, but I'd call it a real long shot.

(07-04-2019, 04:33 PM)jason Wrote: It's almost as if that guy's not very good or something...

Hated the pick, but I try to pull for the guy, but he doesn't give me much to work with. It was pretty damn exciting when he caught that long TD vs Buffalo last preseason though.

Ross is gonna mention that play to his grandchildren forever kinda like I do to the world of that catch I made in high school with my friends.

(07-04-2019, 06:41 PM)Bengalitis Wrote: Ross is gonna mention that play to his grandchildren forever kinda like I do to the world of that catch I made in high school with my friends.

There were people calling for Peerman to be the number one back for years based on one 90 yard run in preseason.

I believe Ross with the new staff/scheme has a chance to improve. Just how much he can improve is the $64 question.

I hope he gets things together soon. Personnel wise, it seems that one of the biggest hopes for improvement was Taylor salvaging Ross' career and making him a useful weapon.

Well that’s disappointing.

He'd be okay if someone didn't keep eating his "Catch Maker" sandwich.

That thing was the only good thing in his life.

People are starting to call him mental.

I'm with Natley, let him return kicks.

(07-05-2019, 09:41 AM)Wyche Wrote: I'm with Natley, let him return kicks.

He has the speed and  moves to make players miss, but I don't think he has the durability to take hits. At least he'll be doing more this way.

(07-04-2019, 05:31 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I am the guy who always says you can't judge any player by his roookie season.  A lot of very good players have done nothing their first year.   Some even take more than a year to fully develop, but if they are on their way to a big career you will see a big improvement in the second year.  Other than the TDs Ross was horrible last year.  I know "catch percentage" has not been around for a real long time, but I don't recall ever seeing one as low as Ross's last year (36.2).  And if you take away his five catches on 6 targets inside the 10 it drops to 30.2.  You can't blame poor QB play because none of our other WRs had catch rates anywhere near that low.

Ross's efficiency inside the ten last year is one of the most puzzling things I have ever seen.  It is harder to get open inside the ten because the defense has so much less area to cover.  If his td rate was due to some skill then he would be killing it between the twenties where he would have more room to move.  It had to be just some weird coincidence involving coverage matchups in the red zone.

Ross played almost every snap the second half of the season.  Overall he averaged 46 snaps for his 13 games (Bengals averaged 59 offensive plays per game).  He only had 19 fewer targets than Green (58 to 77) and had more targets than the next two WRs (Erickson, Core) combined.  Ross had more targets than any of our RBs.  Uzomah had just 6 more targets than Ross but more than twice as many receptions (43 to 21) and yards (439 to 210).  It wasn't like Ross was stuck on the bench or the QBs wouldn't throw to him.  He just was not very good.

Of course there is still a chance that Ross blossoms into a star.  Adam Thielen did not miss a game his first two seasons but had fewer catches (20) than Ross (21).  But Thielen's catch percentage was in the 60's each of his first two years.  It is possible that Ross will have a breakout season, but I'd call it a real long shot.

Great post Fred.

(07-04-2019, 06:41 PM)Bengalitis Wrote: Ross is gonna mention that play to his grandchildren forever kinda like I do to the world of that catch I made in high school with my friends.

Al Bundy?

(07-05-2019, 09:41 AM)WychesWarrior Wrote: I'm with Natley, let him return kicks.

Doubt he could handle the pain. But it’s definitely worth considering. Hell, he might be a Deion Sanders type guy.