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On the West Coast, Justus Ross-Simmons is known by many as “RoboCop.” To earn the moniker of the fictional crime-fighting cyborg, all he had to do was walk onto Inglewood High School’s (California) football field.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Ross-Simmons boasts broad shoulders, burly tree trunks for legs — a given for the former western New York high-school basketball star — and doesn’t say much. He prefers his play to do the talking.

In summer 2021, Inglewood’s wide receivers coach Malik “Fig” James saw this mountain of a man arrive at the school. The then-incoming senior quietly introduced himself as “Justus,” exhibiting shyness after moving across the country. Fig said Ross-Simmons then buckled his chinstrap and laced his cleats for his debut practice.

Embarrassing defensive backs on 50/50 balls. Doubling as a defensive end and relentlessly hounding the quarterback. Ross-Simmons then strolled off the field without saying much, leaving everyone else to discuss what they’d just witnessed.

“This kid is too big, too fast, too strong,” Fig said. “Big, strong hands. Legs are big. He’s got a high butt. Calves are big — I was like, ‘C’mon RoboCop!’”

The nickname stuck throughout Ross-Simmons’ 2021 campaign in Inglewood. It was his lone year with the program, but it was when he exponentially improved his game as a big-bodied receiver. Under former UNLV football star Mil’Von James — Inglewood’s head coach and Fig’s brother — Ross-Simmons bettered his body control and mastered a professional-caliber route tree, talents he’s since taken to Syracuse after Fran Brown’s hire.

Now, in his senior season, where Ross-Simmons has become one of the premier 50/50 ball wide receivers in the Atlantic Coast Conference, it’s safe to say his on-field persona of “RoboCop” is no longer a prototype.

He’s a proven smash-mouth receiver — a rarity in football’s modern era.

“I’m not one of the fancy receivers that’s going to do too much,” Ross-Simmons said on Sept. 16. “I’m going to do what I have to do.”

“Honestly, if you don’t knock the ball down, nine out of 10 times I’m going to catch it,” he warned defensive backs.

Ross-Simmons has vindicated himself through SU’s first eight games in 2025, helping spur Syracuse’s 3-1 start. He caught 14 passes for 212 yards and a team-best five receiving touchdowns through those opening four contests — the best stretch of the Colorado State transfer’s four-year collegiate career.

Justus Ross-Simmons sprints upfield in Syracuse’s loss to Duke on Sept. 27. After a slow 2024 campaign with the Orange, Ross-Simmons has exploded for five touchdowns so far this season. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor

A human highlight reel, Ross-Simmons has outdone himself numerous times with absurd touchdown grabs. Most notably, Ross-Simmons put Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton on a poster by high-pointing a Steve Angeli pass in the Orange’s Week 4 upset victory.

The 12-yard receiving score was featured on ESPN’s “You Got Mossed” segment that Sunday, where Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss picks the best catches of the week, specifically where you “Moss” an opposing defender — essentially catching a ball over their head. It’s high praise. And both Ross-Simmons and fellow Syracuse receiver Darrell Gill Jr. have been on “You Got Mossed” this season.

Gill, you might’ve expected. But for Ross-Simmons, who weathered injuries in 2024 and struggled to get targets in favor of future NFLers like Oronde Gadsden II and Jackson Meeks, he’s broken onto the scene as SU’s standout big-bodied receiver.

“I know (Ross-Simmons) got banged up and was hurt, but now he’s been really a bright spot for us, a voice of leadership in our room, for the younger guys. And obviously the production has been on the field too, so it’s been really fun to watch,” Syracuse wide receivers coach Myles White said.

“I’ve lost count at how many competitive catches Justus has made since he’s been here,” he added. “People gravitate toward him because of that.”

The proof of White’s words is in the pudding — Mil’Von noticed Ross-Simmons from nearly 3,000 miles away.

“Once you saw him on the football field, you knew this kid was something special,” Mil’Von said.

Ross-Simmons’ tape of repeatedly “Mossing” receivers while at Rochester’s East High School until his junior year attracted Mil’Von all the way from his Los Angeles-area powerhouse. Mil’Von also raved about Ross-Simmons’ basketball pedigree as a three-time conference champion at East High.

Basketball to football is typically a natural transition for pass catchers and edge rushers. Ross-Simmons was both rolled into one. He played both positions in Rochester, and Mil’Von and Fig wanted him to do the same with Inglewood.

Both coaches said his raw athletic ability was among the best on their team. Mil’Von doesn’t remember a single 50/50 ball that Ross-Simmons didn’t win. Fig said he could’ve played every defensive position if he wanted to. Mil’Von recalled a play where Ross-Simmons came around the edge as a pass rusher and intercepted a swing pass for a 70-yard pick-six.

Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer

But they knew he wanted to be a receiver. And they knew that, if Ross-Simmons wanted to play high-level Division I ball, he had to become a better route runner and make routine catches more consistently.

So, Fig and Ross-Simmons entered the lab — early stages of his transformation into “RoboCop.”

Fig gave the senior wideout a light plate of routes to master early on: slants, hitches, outs, fades. The quick game. The easy stuff. Fig told Ross-Simmons to use his huge frame to catch passes on these routes, imploring him to put his back against opposing corners and “box them out” as if he’s back on the hardwood. From there, Fig trusted Ross-Simmons’ physicality to gain yards after the catch.

Of course, Ross-Simmons did everything in his first-career game with Inglewood. On Aug. 20, 2021, he scored a game-winning touchdown on a fade route in the corner of the end zone to defeat Loyola High School 29-26. Before that, he scored a defensive touchdown and tallied a sack.

“We knew at that very moment that he’s a Division I football guy,” Fig said.

As the season continued, Fig made things more “uncomfortable” for Ross-Simmons offensively, but Mil’Von and Fig still said he took over games. Fig thought he could handle a larger route tree; digs, big posts, bang 8s — ones NFL stars excel at. Fig believes Ross-Simmons’ work improving his balance, as well as adding muscle in the weight room, helped him excel at tougher routes rapidly after being introduced to them.

Let’s make things even harder — Fig thought to himself.

The new drill Ross-Simmons was forced to repeat: spending entire practices without wearing gloves. Fig’s philosophy was that Ross-Simmons needed to rely on his massive mitts for hands instead of letting his grippy gloves do the work.

“It was about demanding as close to excellence as possible,” Fig said.

He remembers a week that season where Ross-Simmons made defensive backs look silly throughout every day of practice. No gloves in sight. Fig then challenged Ross-Simmons.

Justus Ross-Simmons eyes a defender while playing at Inglewood High School. In his lone season with the Sentinels, Ross-Simmons embraced his big-bodied skill set, helping him become SU’s top 50/50 ball threat. Courtesy of Mil’Von James

“I put a lot of pressure on JRS, just like, ‘Hey, I’m leaning on you, and I’m gonna give you every opportunity this week to make a play,’” Fig told Ross-Simmons. “‘You are the game plan.’”

Fig knew Nevada’s coaching staff would be scouting Inglewood’s players that week, and he wanted Ross-Simmons to reap the benefits.

Ross-Simmons left no doubt, posting over 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns in an Inglewood victory. With the same precision as RoboCop taking down escaped convicts in the streets of dystopian Detroit, Ross-Simmons’ robotic execution stamped his name onto Nevada’s recruiting board and many others.

“The way our offense worked, it was just get the ball up, get the ball to the receiver and watch them make plays,” Mil’Von said. “Justus did a phenomenal job of letting us do what we do best.”

Ross-Simmons’ NFL desires were well within reach after his one-and-done season at Inglewood. He attended Colorado State out of high school and put up a solid first couple of seasons there, tallying 424 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman before earning Honorable Mention All-Mountain West honors in 2023 with 45 catches for 724 yards.

The next calendar year, however, Ross-Simmons went through a pair of hardships. His father, Jake Simmons, had a heart attack and two strokes, which caused Ross-Simmons to transfer to Syracuse to move closer to home and be with his dad. Ross-Simmons then didn’t play a ton as a junior in 2024 with the Orange due to nagging injuries.

His father, who Ross-Simmons says is now doing much better, constantly reminds his son to “be himself” on the field. For big Ross-Simmons, that means playing like the mechanical cyborg he is.

It finally came together this season for Ross-Simmons. And though his production has fallen off amid Syracuse’s four-game losing streak — where its offense has sputtered — maybe the team’s solution is the same one Inglewood used to fix its problems in 2021.

“We knew we had that ace in the pocket every time we threw it up to him,” Fig said of Ross-Simmons.

Published on October 29, 2025 at 10:08 pm
Contact Cooper: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews