I'm interested in what you saw. At 1.30, 2.10, 2.25, 3.00, 3.25, and 3.40 i thought he made good moves. There was another one where he was wide open deep and cut back in front of the defender, allowing him to catch up, but shielding him with his body as he adjusted to a poor throw, which seemed pretty good to me too. But you seem to know your stuff so I'm curious what you see that's so bad.
He's just straight or diagonal. He only runs one speed and it lacks purpose. For a long time, it was that an athlete can only move laterally if he is at 3/4 speed and can't do so at top speed. Jerry Rice and some other freaks seemed to do the impossible and wreck this but it still is a very good workable theory.
Antonio Brown and ODB (and maybe maybe Taywan Taylor) are very clever the way they seem to have 6 different gears and every time you think they're going their fastest, there's another gear.
Barry almost never ran full speed unless it was a foot race or when he cut all the way across. Dante Hall never did until he saw daylight. These are my faves. At 3/4 speed, they had a million tricks they could do.
Jim Brown had very few moves but a wicked stiff arm and put his helmet down and somehow ran through people.
Walter was as unusual as could be with both a forward and backward lean. His center of gravity was probably in his thighs. He just defies every theory and I think it's the leans and incredible balance.
I thought Ross was like Tyreek Hill, but he's not. Hill is clever. He uses bursts all over the field. It might not be a move per se but he bursts one direction, pauses, then bursts another, pauses...on and on.
Everyone has their awareness of their speed and how to use it. Ross is full speed 24/7. This works in college but in the NFL, slows DBs are like 4.5 40 runners and not exactly slow. Since the defenders have the advantage of angles, Ross' huge speed advantage is taken away.
I mentioned all these guys having moves. Obviously, Dante Hall had like a million different things he could do and earned the nickname human joystick. As a defender closes in, this move is appropriate. If he's even closer, that move is. If he's on top of you, yet another move. It's all reactionary but also habitual. This is much of the game of basketball but for football, you see it in the best players. The slow ones use their frame and box out or shield the defender. That's still an awareness, a reaction, and a good result.
Randall Cunningham almost never ran his fastest. He was a leaper. Outstanding ability to leap a different direction, even flipped once IIRC.
I don't see any moves from Ross. He's basically a typical KR playing WR. Full speed 24/7, with almost no space awareness, speed awareness, positioning, and no moves.
I know people disagree with me but I also know people aren't ready to cut bait on a high dynasty pick so early so I'm not sure their disagreements are honest. They don't post videos proving me wrong or tell stories of him doing XYZ in college.
You mentioned shielding. I didn't see it as that. He slows down and has his head all bent forward like please don't hit me. Hakeem Nicks was like 6 feet tall and most of us thought he was 6-3 or 6-4. He's the best example of positioning, maybe the best ever at that. It's just unreal how a "short" WR could make us all believe he was a common #1 WR but he did. Many TEs, Gates and Tony G especially, are experts at positioning with their basketball background.
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More on ODB, AB, and maybe maybe Taywan Taylor. (Greg Cosell and several names really adored his style and had him as a sleeper in the last draft and then he was impressive all summer so we'll have to see in year two)
Rob Moore was interviewed recently and I just loved it. I imagine you can find it on the web. He was coached (and now preaches this) that there should never be a special catch. The WR should be at the spot at the right time and the ball should be right in his bread basket. Many variables in the game make this, of course, not so easy.
The interviewer brought up AB and Moore demonstrated a simple crossing route. The guy is counting to 4 and the ball will be at the spot at 4 seconds. 1,2, Moore makes his cut and almost slows down, at 3 he explodes so that by 4 he is dead on right on the spot where he needs to be. The change in speed makes him a pain in the neck for the defender and leaves the defender with less than a second to react and get to the spot too.
The Rams WRs had no savvy to them(like Ross) and their QB was a poor thinker. McVay set the NFL on fire with all their snap N throws. It's almost a page out of the Brady to Welker book. Brady snaps and Welker better be at that spot in 2 seconds flat. (On this play) There's no read once the ball is snapped, just snap N throw. McVay's offense just finished its first year. There is a little more to it, but that's the bulk of the passing game. I would guess he's going to have pump fakes, traditional routes, picks, and all sorts, but in its infancy, that's all it was. The Bengals could certainly employ Ross this way. They could also send him deep. It's defensible with press coverage and also a safety deep.
I don't see stud, greatness, or anything like that. I was dead wrong and glad I got a nice return for him.
All of these aspects of the game can be taught and learned by playing with people of similar speed. He could very well have always been the fastest and never had to learn. I was fine trading him away and suppose he develops in year three.