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A former member of the Kansas City Chiefs has found a new home in the NFC.
Wide receiver Albert Wilson has signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on May 31.
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Wilson, 29, entered the league undrafted out of Georgia State in 2014. He signed with the Chiefs in May of that year and would remain in Kansas City for four seasons. During his time with the Chiefs, he accumulated 124 receptions on 198 targets for 1,544 yards and 7 touchdowns in 55 games played, according to Pro Football Reference.
After his one-year, $1.7 million deal with Kansas City expired following the 2017 season, Wilson signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. During his three years in Miami, Wilson registered 94 catches on 136 targets for 955 yards and 5 touchdowns in 34 games played.
Now in Minnesota, Wilson will compete for a spot on the depth chart behind Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and K.J. Osborne.
Mahomes Gives Glowing Review of Justyn Ross at OTAs
Speaking of Kansas City wide receivers: There’s an undrafted rookie at the Chiefs’ organized team activities (OTAs) that is turning heads.
After going undrafted out of Clemson this year, wide receiver Justyn Ross entered OTAs in Kansas City with a lot to prove because he doesn’t have a roster spot locked up. The video of him posted by the Chiefs’ social media team on May 25 caught Chiefs Kingdom’s attention and has also been further detailed by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is impressed with what he’s seen from Ross so far.
“You still see the talent,” Mahomes said during his press conference after Day 2 of OTAs on May 26. “That’s the first thing. I mean you saw the catch on Twitter, but the way he catches the football out of the air, he snatches it. There are no drops or anything like that.”
With JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, and Corey Coleman all new to the roster along with Ross, there’s a lot of competition for a limited amount of roster spots within Kansas City’s receiver room as the team begins the post-Tyreek Hill era. Because of that, Ross, despite his extensive injury history, has to hit the ground running in his NFL career if he wants to make the Chiefs’ 53-man roster come September.
For Mahomes, he explained what it’ll take for Ross to take the next step after a strong showing at OTAs.
“Now, it’s about him learning the NFL offense,” Mahomes explained. “That’s how it is for every rookie when they come in. You don’t see that top talent that they can be until they learn and can just play fast. I think you’ve seen the splashes of how talented he can be and then you see times where he’s just barely off of what we wanted. And he learns from that and he doesn’t make that same mistake.”
Even though Ross has a long way to go before he makes the regular-season roster, let alone make an impact in an NFL game, Mahomes thinks the ceiling is high for the rookie receiver.
“Just the more and more reps that he gets, I can only imagine how good he’s going to be because of the talent that he possesses,” Mahomes concluded.
Ross Brings High Upside, Injury History
Ross has one of the highest ceilings you’ll find from the 2022 class of NFL rookies. But there’s a reason why he went undrafted.
Ross was a playmaker during his first two seasons at Clemson. During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, he accumulated 1,865 receiving yards on 112 catches — 16.6 yards per catch — and 17 touchdowns, according to Sports Reference.
In the spring of 2020, Ross was diagnosed with a congenital fusion in his spine, and doctors told him he would never play football again, per Adam Teicher of ESPN. The Clemson pass-catcher would undergo surgery that year and sat out the 2020 season.
During the 2021 season, which was his final year of collegiate football, Ross managed to return to football and caught 46 passes for 514 yards and 3 touchdowns. But a stress fracture in his foot hampered his play the entire season.
With injuries plaguing him for the backend of his time at Clemson, Ross’s draft stock plummeted in 2022. Instead of being one of the top prospects in the draft, he went undrafted. But the injuries weren’t enough to keep Ross out of the NFL entirely, which is evident by him being on Kansas City’s 90-man roster.
Ross now has a chance to prove his value by catching passes from one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL while also being coached by one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL. With that kind of support around him, as long as he stays healthy the sky is the limit for Justyn Ross.
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