Ross Blacklock (born July 9, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at TCU.

Early years

Blacklock's father, Jimmy, played for and later served as a coach for the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

. Growing up in

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, up from 67,35 ...

, Blacklock became a football star at Elkins High School. Following his senior season for the Knights, he was selected to play in the 2016

U.S. Army All-American Game The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

and verbally committed to play college football at TCU during the broadcast of the game.

College career

After redshirting during his first season on campus in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Blacklock became a full-time starter as a redshirt freshman in 2017, helping lead the Frogs to the program's first-ever berth in the Big 12 Championship Game and a win in the

2017 Alamo Bowl Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

over

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. His individual performance earned him

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as Freshman All-American honors from the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

. In August 2018, Blacklock suffered an injury caused him to miss his entire sophomore season. Nine months later, he was cleared by doctors to return for his junior season in 2019. Following a junior season where he was named to the first-team All-

, Blacklock announced that he would forgo his senior season and declare for the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Professional career

Houston Texans

Blacklock was selected in the second round of the

with the 40th pick by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, their first choice in the draft. The Texans originally obtained this pick in the trade that sent

DeAndre Hopkins DeAndre Rashaun Hopkins (born June 6, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round o ...

to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

for David Johnson. In Week 2 against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, Blacklock was ejected from the game late in the fourth quarter after throwing a punch. In his first year as a professional, Blacklock did not live up to expectations. He finished his first season with 14 tackles, including one tackle for a loss, and no sacks.

Minnesota Vikings

On August 30, 2022, Blacklock and a seventh-round pick were traded to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

for a sixth-round pick. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On September 4, 2023, Blacklock was signed to the

practice squad.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blacklock, Ross 1998 births Living people American football defensive tackles Players of American football from Missouri City, Texas Players of American football from Harris County, Texas TCU Horned Frogs football players Houston Texans players Minnesota Vikings players Jacksonville Jaguars players