2018 Rookie Profile: Calvin Ridley, WR Alabama

Ryan Finley Posted On April 8, 2018

If you had told me a couple years back that the dynasty community would be all-in on running backs in 2018, I would have asked if standard scoring leagues had made some kind of a comeback. It feels odd to see all the mocks with all the RBs going so early, while nobody really knows what to make of the wide receiver position. It seems most folks have a field of five or six guys with no clear number one at the position.

I’ve also heard it characterized as a deep wide receiver class, but not one with real studs. In almost every grouping I’ve heard though, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley is at least in the mix. Where will Ridley fall in rookie drafts this season? Let’s take a look at his resumé.

THE STATS

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Statistics from sports-reference.com.

No, these aren’t the glittering stats you’d like to see from a top wide receiver prospect, but there are factors that need to be considered. Ridley played for Alabama, which is a defensive and running game focused team, to say the least. They have also not had the strongest quarterback play, as they prefer signal callers who will protect the ball above all else. That being said, these stats in that kind of offense are actually strong, if you ask me.

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Ridley started strong immediately as a freshman. His 89 catches for 1,045 yards and seven touchdowns certainly helped the Tide on their way to the national championship. His average yards per catch reflect the kind of offense that Alabama runs, as they don’t offer a lot of deep shots and patterns. And in some ways, this reflects his entire Alabama career. Not a lot of flashy opportunities, but Ridley produced steadily when the team needed it. It did seem he stretched the field a bit more last year, as his average yards per catch saw a big jump, but he failed to crack the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight year and fell back a bit in the touchdown department.

If it seems like I’m repeating myself, I am. Don’t take these stat lines at face value. The offensive scheme and middling quarterback play (and that might be generous) prevent explosive numbers from anyone catching the ball. I wouldn’t count this line as a knock on Ridley, but see it as a positive that he netted nearly 2,800 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air in his time there.

THE FILM

The film is where Ridley shines. He’s one of those players who just gets open again and again. He might be the best route runner in the entire class, and you can see it. He isn’t quite the route runner Amari Cooper was, but I could see him getting to that level. You won’t find any lazy, rounded routes here, as Ridley is explosive out of his breaks and really gains separation from them. He runs good routes at all three levels, and he shows consistency whether he’s going deep or running a short cross. Ridley doesn’t look like he’s even trying when in his patterns, his moves and transitions are as smooth as silk.

Ridley also has the speed to make the separation he gains from great route running pay off. He can easily take the top off the defense if he’s given room to run (and the problem there, again, was his quarterback’s ability to get him the ball deep – it wasn’t a fault of Ridley.) Ridley can also perform after the catch, with strong open field moves and great usage of the entire field to gain extra yardage. He can make defenders pay for poor angles and over pursuit. Ridley also has great head fakes and can translate to strong double moves if he really wants to get open. He’s just plain electric running routes and after the catch.

Of course, Ridley isn’t perfect. He can struggle against press coverage, as he isn’t yet studied in how to use his hands to beat it. He doesn’t have the kind of size he can leverage in those situations, and it also causes his some issues in tight coverage. Ridley won’t physically beat a corner on very many 50/50 balls. (He is, however, good at fighting for the ball in those situations using grace over power, reaching back or using his strong hands to steal those balls away from defenders.) Also, although he is great in the open field, it’s not from breaking many tackles. Ridley needs almost total evasion to get away from good tacklers – he cannot fight his way through them.

MEASURABLES

I warn you, it’s probably best not to look too closely at Ridley’s spider graph. His page at Mock Draftable just isn’t very pretty. When your numbers compare to Herb Haygood and Laveranues Coles, you may be in trouble. The only real positives here are his 40 time of 4.43 seconds and an okay 3-cone of 6.88s. Some players manage to separate themselves during the Underwear Olympics, but Ridley was not one of them. He put up atrocious numbers in the vertical and broad jump, his arms aren’t very long, his hands aren’t very big, the list goes on. It’s probably best if you look away from this chart before you pull a hammy or something.

DYNASTY VALUE

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Find more on Ridley on his player page.

Ridley’s March ADP puts him at 66.5. That’s just a little behind receivers like Golden Tate (63.0) and Marvin Jones (60.5), but a little ahead of Sterling Shepard (72.0) and Robert Woods (72.2.) In terms of rookie rankings, he’s currently the third-ranked wide receiver and eighth overall rookie, just behind DJ Moore and just ahead of Rashaad Penny.

As I said earlier, many analysts have Ridley amongst a group of five-six wideouts in this class, and everyone has that group ranked a little differently. Some have Ridley first among that group, some have him bringing up the rear. If you want him, I’d expect to have to pay a mid to late first round pick, but I could see him slipping into the second in some leagues, especially given his poor measurables.

The good thing about Ridley is I see him as one of the more NFL-ready wide receiver prospects (and since he will be 24 this December, he better be.) If he lands in the right situation, he could be a day one starter. He’s well worth a later first round pick in my estimation.

CONCLUSION

If Ridley had a good combine performance and stronger numbers, he likely would have found himself the clear WR1 in this draft. But in reality, he had a poor showing at the Combine which opened to door for more speculation as to the top wideout in this class. But remember this, Ridley isn’t the first guy to have a bad combine. A receiver you may have heard of, Antonio Brown, had a similarly poor showing. He turned out just fine.

His college stats also don’t help his resumé, as he didn’t show the kind of dominance dynasty owners fall in love with leading up to the draft. But when you take the time to watch the film (and I recommend you take the time to watch more than his highlight packages), you may see a wide receiver who looks ready to perform well at the next level. He isn’t totally dominant in any one area, but he is an electric route runner with great speed and ball skills. There are some worries about his size and ability to beat press coverage, but I think that’s something Ridley can learn at the next level. Even though we don’t yet know his landing spot, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend a late first round pick on him, and he is currently my top wide receiver in this class.

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