2023 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Dylon Ross, DE, Ripon College

• Name: Dylon Ross 
• Position: Edge/ DL
• College: Ripon College
• Height: 6’5”
• Weight: 255
• Twitter: @bigdyl59
• Instagram: @dyl0n.r0ss

What makes you a top prospect at your position in the 2023 NFL Draft?

• My ability to find the ball and always find a way to be around the ball makes me a top prospect. I have an extremely high motor that does not allow me to quit or take a play off. I am always giving everything I have every game. There is nothing I want more than to have the ability to help my team win. I’m willing to put my body on the line to ensure my team wins.

At what age were you first interested in the sport of football?

• I’ve always had a ball in my hands since I was born. There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t been in love with the game of football. If I had to put an age on it, it would be when I was 8 playing my first year of tackle football. 

What is one thing that NFL teams should know about you?

• I’m very resilient. Being a military kid and having to move around a lot and being put into many different situations growing up and having to adapt on the fly. I’m able to be put into any situation and have the ability to maintain my composure.

If you could donate to one cause in the world, what would it be?

• One cause I would donate to would be to help veterans and help them get the help they need when they come back from deployment and try to help homelessness among veterans. 

What is the best advice you have ever received?

• The best advice I have ever received is that I just need to be who I am and not worry about the outside noise of everyone around me. 

Who was your childhood hero?

• My childhood hero isn’t just one person. It is both of my parents because they have sacrificed so much for me, and being in a military family is not an easy thing to do. My parents made it to where I had everything I needed and then some. They have supported me and my dreams since I was a kid.  

Who is the most underrated teammate in your locker room at your school?

• The most underrated kid in my locker room was probably my guy Rocco just because he’s a high-energy guy who is hilarious and keeps morale high.  

What is your biggest pet peeve?

• My biggest pet peeve is when someone says they’re going to do something but don’t do it or don’t work for it.

Overcoming adversity is what defines character, what was the hardest moment in your life to overcome?

• The hardest moment in my life that I had to overcome was probably just having to deal with my dad being deployed and worrying about that and also feeling like I had to take over the duties of being the “man” of the house while he was away. 

Tell me something about your school and why it is so special to you?

• Ripon is unique because it is not a big school, so you can interact with most of the campus, and there is a sense of community with everyone around. Ripon is special to me because it is where I have felt at home, whether it be with my teammates or coaches, as well as the people who came and supported us at all the home games. Another thing that makes Ripon so special is the support we get, whether it be from faculty and staff, athletes from different teams, or the community in town. People supported us and looked forward to celebrating our victories with us. 

What is your favorite snack food?

• Definitely the sweet and spicy Doritos 

What is the best part of football?

• The best part of football is building a solid relationship with your teammates and coaches and having those relationships stay with you throughout your life. Hitting people isn’t so bad either though. 

If you could sell yourself in one sentence what would you say?

• I’m the guy you look for when the game is on the line. 

If you could compare your play to one player in the NFL who would it be?

• I play the game my own way, but my teammates like to say that I play like Nick Bosa. He is the guy who I watch and try to study the most. 

If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would it be and why?

• Ray Lewis would have to be my first person because he is a guy who I looked up to in the football world as I was growing up, and I just loved who he was as a player. I also want to ask him many questions about playing and how to study the game in the way he did. The second person would have to be my uncle Cody because I would like to talk to him again. The third person would be Nick Bosa, just so I could pick through his brain about certain things he looks for when pass rushing and understand the looks he is given; plus, I’m a huge Ohio State fan.