Justyn Ross passed his biggest test yet with sharp routes and physicality. Now what?
The second-year Chiefs WR caught his first NFL touchdown, but it was the "how" on that play (and others) that caught my eye.
Football is back, and it feels terrific.
Well, it did after the first quarter.
Look, I’m not here to talk about the scoreboard in a preseason game, or really anything related to the box score. As I wrote Friday, that stuff just doesn’t tell us much and, therefore, doesn’t interest me. But yes, the early going (Chiefs starters didn’t play much but didn’t impress when they did, particularly on defense) was not fun for Chiefs fans. We’ll see how things look next week with them, I can’t imagine practice will be fun.
But for today, we’re here to talk about the things that DO matter in the preseason; Individual performances and traits. And we’ve got some genuinely fun stuff to choose from. Because after that rough start, the Chiefs tightened up with their 2nd and 3rd teamers in the game and showed off a number of spots where their depth looked impressive. Regardless of the ultimate end result (a chaotic final minute that led to a loss), that was fun to watch.
There were multiple players that stood out (for good and bad) against the Saints, so for purposes of making the people happy I put up a Twitter poll asking who fans wanted to see written about in more detail tonight out of Justyn Ross, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Wanya Morris, and the starting offensive line in pass protection. And the winner was (to the surprise of no one, I’m sure) Justyn Ross.
Keep in mind that we’ll look at multiple other guys later this week (particularly after all-22 drops to check out the receivers more thoroughly), so feel free to drop who you’d like to see checked out in more detail in the comments. I can’t say I’ll get to all of them, but it’ll be fun to try!
Let’s talk about Ross and what he showed in limited action today, which… well, it caught my eye. Keep in mind, this is preseason. What we’re looking for is the “how,” not necessarily the results, and for traits that look like they can translate moving forward. That’s why it’s important to go beyond just highlights and look at every snap to see what information can be found.