Plenty of uncertainty continues to exist in regard to the start of college football in 2020, but one budding star's season is over before it could begin.
Clemson receiver Justyn Ross will miss the 2020 season after a recent X-ray showed he has a "congenital fusion" in his spine, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney told reporters Monday. Swinney said Ross will undergo surgery and he's hopeful that by January Ross is doing well enough to have to decide between declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft or returning to Clemson for another year.
"The frustrating thing for Justyn is that he feels perfectly fine," Swinney said, via The Athletic's Grace Raynor.
With the departure of Tee Higgins to the NFL, Ross was in line to be a key focus of Clemson's offense in his third and potentially final collegiate season. The wideout burst onto the scene as a freshman, recording exactly 1,000 receiving yards on 46 catches and scoring nine times as part of Clemson's run to a national title in 2018. Ross followed that up with a similarly effective campaign in 2019, catching 66 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns.
Pending successful surgery, Ross will have to wait a year to resume his promising career.
