John Ross hasn’t been at all what I was expecting. I was expecting a different kind of player.
I thought he would have somewhat of breakout kind of season. We’re talking about a former top-10 pick. That hasn’t happened. He’s caught only 20 passes.
And I thought we would see Ross catching lot of deep balls. He’d see a lot of single coverage (opposite A.J. Green), and he he’d be able to hit on long touchdowns pretty consistently. That also hasn’t happened.
Ross, in fact, has been pretty much the opposite. He caught a 39-yard touchdown at Atlanta, but his other 6 TD catches have come from 2, 2, 3, 3, 6 and 22 yards.
His 7 TDs, by my math, have come from an average of 11 yards. In the last 10 years (2008-2017), 212 other wide receivers have caught at least 7 TDs in a season. Only 17 of them have caught their touchdowns from an average of under 11 yards per touchdown.
Here’s how Ross compares to the wide receivers from the 2008-2017 seasons. (That is, I haven’t carefully checked the numbers to see if there’s another short-range receiver from 2018 that I’m overlooking).
UNDER 14 YARDS ON TOUCHDOWN CATCHES | |||
---|---|---|---|
Avg | TD | Year | Player |
4.9 | 9 | 2017 | Jarvis Landry |
6.0 | 10 | 2013 | Wes Welker |
6.0 | 7 | 2014 | Roddy White |
6.6 | 7 | 2010 | Mike Sims-Walker |
6.7 | 7 | 2016 | Donte Moncrief |
7.1 | 7 | 2008 | Dwayne Bowe |
7.9 | 7 | 2008 | Isaac Bruce |
9.4 | 8 | 2011 | Roddy White |
9.4 | 9 | 2015 | Larry Fitzgerald |
9.7 | 7 | 2009 | Steve Smith (NYG) |
10.1 | 7 | 2013 | Marlon Brown |
10.3 | 8 | 2011 | Plaxico Burress |
10.3 | 12 | 2015 | Eric Decker |
10.3 | 8 | 2016 | Michael Crabtree |
10.4 | 10 | 2013 | Jerricho Cotchery |
10.4 | 14 | 2016 | Jordy Nelson |
10.6 | 9 | 2016 | Michael Thomas |
11.0 | 7 | 2018 | John Ross |
11.1 | 10 | 2012 | Marques Colston |
11.3 | 7 | 2011 | Steve Johnson |
11.4 | 7 | 2010 | Wes Welker |
11.4 | 7 | 2013 | Anquan Boldin |
11.6 | 9 | 2015 | Calvin Johnson |
11.6 | 7 | 2008 | Laveranues Coles |
11.7 | 10 | 2014 | Mike Wallace |
12.0 | 9 | 2016 | Rishard Matthews |
12.2 | 13 | 2013 | Dez Bryant |
12.4 | 8 | 2017 | Michael Crabtree |
12.5 | 11 | 2008 | Anquan Boldin |
12.6 | 10 | 2013 | Marvin Jones |
12.8 | 12 | 2013 | Brandon Marshall |
12.8 | 8 | 2016 | Anquan Boldin |
12.8 | 8 | 2016 | Sterling Shepard |
13.0 | 13 | 2009 | Larry Fitzgerald |
13.0 | 12 | 2014 | Randall Cobb |
13.1 | 8 | 2013 | Eddie Royal |
13.3 | 7 | 2011 | Hakeem Nicks |
13.4 | 14 | 2012 | James Jones |
13.4 | 13 | 2012 | Eric Decker |
13.4 | 7 | 2010 | Marques Colston |
13.7 | 7 | 2008 | Hines Ward |
—Ian Allan