2018 NFL Draft Profile: Calvin Ridley
- Tyler Webb
- Jul 24, 2017
- 2 min read
Calvin Ridley, Wide Receiver, Alabama
6’1, 188 Lbs, Junior, 4.35 40 Yard
5 star recruits are just another thing for Alabama, but even for Bama Ridley was special. Coming out of high school 247Sports.com ranked him as the number one overall wide receiver and the 12th best player in the country for the class of 2015. The 5 star commit had a little bit of a weird road to Bama, as he was only allowed to play 3 games into his senior season due to Florida high school rules. He turned 19 making him ineligible in the state of Florida to play high school football. He started as a true freshman, putting him in the likes of Amari Cooper and Julio Jones as true freshmen wideouts to start for the Crimson Tide. His freshman year was a huge success, catching 89 catches for 1045 yards and 7 touchdowns in Alabama route for a championship. USA Today named him to their freshman All-American team for those numbers. Ridley came back as a sophomore and grabbed 72 catches for 769 yards and 7 more touchdowns. He even got a rushing touchdown too.
Calvin Ridley got the ball a lot on screen passes, and i mean A LOT, nearly 20% percent. He completed 91% percent of those catches too, and only netting 108 yards. Ridley is the type of player that you just want to get the ball in his hands and let him do the rest, which is what Lane Kiffin tried to do for most of the season. Over 50% of the yards he gain this season were after the catch, which basically is all I need to explain that statement. He also used another 14% on go routes, that averaged 34 yards a catch. His 4.3 speed is an obvious trait that automatically puts him at an advantage over 95% of the starting corners in the NFL.
Possible Landing Spots: Top 12 Pick
Arizona Cardinals - Larry Fitzgerald is rounding up is Hall of fame career, and Arizona could look for Ridley to be the hier to his throne. Though they have tons of speed in J.J Nelson and John Brown already, they lack a true go to receiver outside of Fitzgerald. Ridley can fill that role for the Cardinals, and still bring his 4.3 speed to the table as well.
Buffalo Bills - The Bills have a lot of needs on their team, but they did manage to snag an extra 1st round pick from Houston last off season. Sammy Watkins is coming up on his last year under contract, and if he continues being injured or lack luster, I see the Bills finding a replacement for him instead of resigning him. Buffalo would be left with Zay Jones, a would be sophomore, as their go to receiver. Ridley would fill a major need with either of their 1st round picks next off season.
Baltimore Ravens - Jeremy Maclin was a great signing for the Ravens, who lost just about all of their key targets this offseason. Calvin Ridley would help fill in for those lost targets, and give Joe Flacco a true #1 option.
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