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Carolina Chaos attackman Ross Scott

Ross Scott: The key to Chaos’s postseason success on offense

By Hayden Lewis | Aug 16, 2024

Simply put, the Carolina Chaos offense has been awful for the majority of the season. Four times this year, they have scored fewer than 10 goals. In last weekend’s loss to the Denver Outlaws, they scored a season-low four. 

The good news for Carolina? With how dominant its league-best defense is, its offense only needs to be average to have a chance at winning the Cash App Championship Trophy. 

Ross Scott has been one of the few bright spots in that poor offense. Scott’s 14 points (12G, 2A) have him tied for sixth among rookies with Chaos teammate Shane Knobloch. The first-year attackman has been highly involved lately after veterans Josh Byrne and Jules Heningburg each missed a game in consecutive weeks. 

The elevated role has led to a more determined and aggressive style of play from the third-round draft pick.

Scott can be the key to generating enough offense for Carolina to be at least passable at that end of the field, allowing the world-class defense to win the team games.

2022 Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year JT Giles-Harris was the defender on Scott in this clip. Giles-Harris is one of the more feared matchups across the league for attackmen because of his lockdown ability. The three-time All-Star's recovery helped prevent a goal from Scott, but the look generated by the right-handed rookie was excellent.

Although Scott didn't score here, attacking a highly respected defender this aggressively is a promising sign for the Carolina offense. 

Why is it promising? First, it adds stability to Carolina’s offense when more players than Byrne are having success. It also proves the team can make the jump from poor to average with the help of a few guys. 

On a team that’s struggled to find its offensive identity all season, one player finding his groove and flaunting some confidence is important because he can open up his teammates’ games, too. That’s what Scott did against the Utah Archers. 

Scott's IQ at X frees up more space for Byrne to attack his spots on the field. 

The fleet-footed rookie knows to fade away from the left-wing side of the field if Byrne wants to isolate or work a two-man game with Kyle Jackson. Defenders have to respect Scott’s quickness, so they can’t overcommit to helping on Byrne, leaving open areas for the crafty Canadian to attack and expose. 

Scott and Byrne both clicked at a high level alongside some other Chaos teammates against Utah, and it led to a 15-goal outburst for the team in its best offensive game of the season.

In that game, we also saw this look:

Scott wasn’t at X most of the season, so this look with Brian Minicus never existed. Now that it does, Minicus-Scott two-man games could become a staple for late-season offense. There’s no shortage of quickness in the duo, which makes defending them in two-man looks hard. 

The two-man look doesn’t need to happen in abundance, but if Scott and Minicus can pull it out and score consistently, the offense will immediately be better. 

Minicus has been quiet most of the season, but his four-point performance against Utah was his best game. He was able to create offense via his dodging from the midfield because Scott and Byrne were feasting down low. 

The inside roll is becoming one of Scott’s patented moves when he initiates from down low. Although he didn’t score in this clip, against Utah the week prior, Scott pulled off the same move for a goal.

Scott took nine shots against both the Archers and the Denver Outlaws in the past two weeks. Not every shot was high-percentage or from a good angle, which Scott needs to work on to give himself a better chance to score. It will also help Carolina not waste vital possessions since scoring hasn’t been easy for the team.

If the Rutgers product can continue to get 30-40 touches, as he has in the past two games, he’ll continue to have chances to shoot. Things are shaping up to allow Scott to make that happen.

Here’s this week's Chaos lineup against the Boston Cannons:

Carolina is rolling out the same offensive personnel from the win against Utah, with one change: Head coach and general manager Andy Towers added Heningburg to the lineup over Eric Dobson in the midfield. 

Scott’s great play from X allows Towers to have Tye Kurtz as an inside finisher at attack and gives depth to the midfield by moving Heningburg there. 

Earlier this week, I detailed what this change could create. 

Scott may be the most important offensive player for Carolina in the Cash App Playoffs, assuming the Chaos qualify this weekend (it would take a total collapse for the California Redwoods to beat them out for the final spot). Byrne is easily the best player on this offense, but Scott’s ability to take pressure away from Byrne and open up other players while doing so is paramount. 

Against Boston on Friday, Scott has one last chance in the regular season to showcase his game before looking to help lead the Chaos through September.

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