Where's the Love for Calvin Ridley?

[jterrell]

Ehhhh....all I'm saying is if Julio Jones came into this draft at 24.....you wouldn't hear anything about age. If the guy can play he can play. Age and measurable s shouldn't stop you from getting a player.

There are simply no way I could ignore those pieces of an evaluation.

Ridley basically looks great running routes. But that's it. That's the one box he checks. It's a big box but if you stop there you are going to suck at drafting.

He's not a stud athlete. --lacks size and explosion numbers, can't jump.
Didn't produce big-time numbers in college and certainly not in big games versus the best competition.
Isn't a high ceiling guy with insane potential to develop.

So for me a guy whose likely maxed out athletically at 24 years old and coming from Alabama, wasn't a top producer at the position, is well below the average athletically, I can't put him up where others are.
I think it's a combo of laziness and that Ridley was a really good 21 year old freshman.
Arguably as good or better than he was as a 23 year old Junior.

I get that people excuse his production because his team ran the ball and the QB wasn't a polished passer.
But that doesn't fully explain his poor average per catch or lack of TDs for me. Guys like Amari Cooper, Julio Jones put up much bigger numbers in that offense then had the athletic traits test out well above average too.

I'd put Ridley about 45 in this class. I think he can help someone as a WR2 and can be a consistent 40-50 catch, 600 yard guy for an average NFL offense. But I think strong CBs will take him away and he's gonna get knocked loopy at times. He'll need some plays on the sideline gathering himself akin to Beasley. I think he'd really shine with the Pats (who'd scheme him out of press coverages) but most WRs would.

 

[baltcowboy]

Watched highlights tapes of Ridley, Moore, Sutton, Chalk, Miller and St. Brown. Ridley is by far the best receiver now. Nobody in this class plays as fast, runs routes, or gets as open as he does. I know his age and athletic testing is an issue but man he reminds me of Marvin Harrison.

 

[DFWJC]

There are simply no way I could ignore those pieces of an evaluation.

Ridley basically looks great running routes. But that's it. That's the one box he checks. It's a big box but if you stop there you are going to suck at drafting.

He's not a stud athlete. --lacks size and explosion numbers, can't jump.
Didn't produce big-time numbers in college and certainly not in big games versus the best competition.
Isn't a high ceiling guy with insane potential to develop.

So for me a guy whose likely maxed out athletically at 24 years old and coming from Alabama, wasn't a top producer at the position, is well below the average athletically, I can't put him up where others are.
I think it's a combo of laziness and that Ridley was a really good 21 year old freshman.
Arguably as good or better than he was as a 23 year old Junior.

I get that people excuse his production because his team ran the ball and the QB wasn't a polished passer.
But that doesn't fully explain his poor average per catch or lack of TDs for me. Guys like Amari Cooper, Julio Jones put up much bigger numbers in that offense then had the athletic traits test out well above average too.

I'd put Ridley about 45 in this class. I think he can help someone as a WR2 and can be a consistent 40-50 catch, 600 yard guy for an average NFL offense. But I think strong CBs will take him away and he's gonna get knocked loopy at times. He'll need some plays on the sideline gathering himself akin to Beasley. I think he'd really shine with the Pats (who'd scheme him out of press coverages) but most WRs would.

I think you underrate Ridley, jt.
But I guess we'll see.
Not worth arguing the point

 

[DFWJC]

I think he’s the best WR now
I’d be willing to bet he doesn’t have the best career of any WR in this draft

The lack a huge separation from the pack makes that probability really high.

Taking the entire WR pool vs one single WR is a pretty safe bet unless it's a Julio Jones.

 

[beware_d-ware]

There are simply no way I could ignore those pieces of an evaluation.

Ridley basically looks great running routes. But that's it. That's the one box he checks. It's a big box but if you stop there you are going to suck at drafting.

He's not a stud athlete. --lacks size and explosion numbers, can't jump.
Didn't produce big-time numbers in college and certainly not in big games versus the best competition.
Isn't a high ceiling guy with insane potential to develop.

So for me a guy whose likely maxed out athletically at 24 years old and coming from Alabama, wasn't a top producer at the position, is well below the average athletically, I can't put him up where others are.
I think it's a combo of laziness and that Ridley was a really good 21 year old freshman.
Arguably as good or better than he was as a 23 year old Junior.

I get that people excuse his production because his team ran the ball and the QB wasn't a polished passer.
But that doesn't fully explain his poor average per catch or lack of TDs for me. Guys like Amari Cooper, Julio Jones put up much bigger numbers in that offense then had the athletic traits test out well above average too.

I'd put Ridley about 45 in this class. I think he can help someone as a WR2 and can be a consistent 40-50 catch, 600 yard guy for an average NFL offense. But I think strong CBs will take him away and he's gonna get knocked loopy at times. He'll need some plays on the sideline gathering himself akin to Beasley. I think he'd really shine with the Pats (who'd scheme him out of press coverages) but most WRs would.

 

[conner01]

The lack a huge separation from the pack makes that probability really high.

Taking the entire WR pool vs one single WR is a pretty safe bet unless it's a Julio Jones.

The strength of this WR class seems to be more good prospects than usual but no Julio types at all
If they really are thinking WR I hope it’s after a trade down to at least add a 3rd

 

[Daygoboy6191]

Watched highlights tapes of Ridley, Moore, Sutton, Chalk, Miller and St. Brown. Ridley is by far the best receiver now. Nobody in this class plays as fast, runs routes, or gets as open as he does. I know his age and athletic testing is an issue but man he reminds me of Marvin Harrison.

Lol

 

[Pants]

Not a fan of anyone that played for Alabama. They, for the most part, at the most over-hyped program going in to any draft. But, how many of these studs in college don’t live up to that hype in the pros? Makes me wonder why they are so good in college but not in the pros. Different rules that are enforced perhaps?

No to Ridley. I don’t hate him, just not worthy of first round to me

 

[baltcowboy]

Ridley would be the most dangerous receiver on the the team if we drafted him. I don't know about the other receivers in this draft.

 

[Daygoboy6191]

Ridley would be the most dangerous receiver on the the team if we drafted him. I don't know about the other receivers in this draft.

Why do you say that?

 

[jterrell]

Watched highlights tapes of Ridley, Moore, Sutton, Chalk, Miller and St. Brown. Ridley is by far the best receiver now. Nobody in this class plays as fast, runs routes, or gets as open as he does. I know his age and athletic testing is an issue but man he reminds me of Marvin Harrison.

whether you like any of these guys are not watching highlight tapes is the absolute worst way to evaluate anyone.

 

[baltcowboy]

His route running and game speed. He will get open.

 

[baltcowboy]

whether you like any of these guys are not watching highlight tapes is the absolute worst way to evaluate anyone.

Not really. I was not that impressed with DJ Moore's highlights. I trust the draftknicks and what I have seen from Ridley matches what they say. I think he will have the best numbers but we will see.

 

[jterrell]

Not a fan of anyone that played for Alabama. They, for the most part, at the most over-hyped program going in to any draft. But, how many of these studs in college don’t live up to that hype in the pros? Makes me wonder why they are so good in college but not in the pros. Different rules that are enforced perhaps?

No to Ridley. I don’t hate him, just not worthy of first round to me

Bama has insane talent but those kids have basically been in an NFL caliber program for 3-4 years.
When you are looking at upside not sure there's going to be a ton left.
So the kids are good but they are also pretty much what you see is what you get.
And 'some' of the kids are burned out on being micro-managed and 24x7 football focused.

 

[jterrell]

Not really. I was not that impressed with DJ Moore's highlights. I trust the draftknicks and what I have seen from Ridley matches what they say. I think he will have the best numbers but we will see.

No really.
It's OK to disagree about player evaluations and definitely OK to just say you want to trust people with more experience but highlights are terrible indicators.

DJ Moore literally had no QB so it can be tough to truly judge him. You are mostly looking at potential. Maryland was just so bad his 3 years there and he had zero luck with QB health.
This is decent stuff:


Notice the play at 3:57. That's a play Ridley has never and will never make because he lacks strength.

Ridley doesn't break tackles which is why he scored so little. He runs to space and gets out of bounds or down.
Moore is mostly a guy who has miminal usable tape for lack of a QB.

But he does possess those measurables that easily surpass Ridley and favor Dez Bryant.

 

[baltcowboy]

No really.
It's OK to disagree about player evaluations and definitely OK to just say you want to trust people with more experience but highlights are terrible indicators.

DJ Moore literally had no QB so it can be tough to truly judge him. You are mostly looking at potential. Maryland was just so bad his 3 years there and he had zero luck with QB health.
This is decent stuff:


Notice the play at 3:57. That's a play Ridley has never and will never make because he lacks strength.

Ridley doesn't break tackles which is why he scored so little. He runs to space and gets out of bounds or down.
Moore is mostly a guy who has miminal usable tape for lack of a QB.

But he does possess those measurables that easily surpass Ridley and favor Dez Bryant.

Moore reminds me of Dez. I have said that in other posts. I live in Maryland I have watched him play. Great athlete but man Ridley cuts on a dime. His route running is precise. He is not OBJ but his route running is similar. Moore's top two qbs went down in the first two weeks of the season. It killed him but Ridley had a running back throwing him the football for two straight seasons.

 

[jterrell]

Moore reminds me of Dez. I have said that in other posts. I live in Maryland I have watched him play. Great athlete but man Ridley cuts on a dime. His route running is precise. He is not OBJ but his route running is similar. Moore's top two qbs went down in the first two weeks of the season. It killed him but Ridley had a running back throwing him the football for two straight seasons.

A lot of guys right now are just wrong about Ridley. And that's OK.
But Jalen Hurts is going to be able to pick his spot if he transfers.
He completed over 60% of his passes and 17 TDs to 1 INT last year. A LOT of teams including Maryland had FAR, FAR worse QBs.

Ridley just isn't that good. He's a speed player with great route-running, yes. But he's not dangerous with wiggle nor with power. He doesn't score a lot of TDs.
5 TDs on 63 catches? Not impressive.

People want to compare him to Marvin Harrison who of course was Marvin Harrison because he had Peyton Manning.

Ridley is not a plus blocker, not a plus after the catch guy, not a plus fade player.
He's not even really a back shoulder guy.
He's simply an old school run the route and hit him on timing throw type.
Those are complimentary WRs in today's NFL that live mostly in the slot as WR3.

Anyone who drafts Ridley top 20 will regret it.

 

[CCBoy]

The strength of this WR class seems to be more good prospects than usual but no Julio types at all
If they really are thinking WR I hope it’s after a trade down to at least add a 3rd

There is too much potential wide receivers, down to the 3rd round area, to not take a valid player that will still be at pick 19. Improve the team and it's depth.

 

[Teague31]

Just say no to a Round 1 receiver

 

[baltcowboy]

A lot of guys right now are just wrong about Ridley. And that's OK.
But Jalen Hurts is going to be able to pick his spot if he transfers.
He completed over 60% of his passes and 17 TDs to 1 INT last year. A LOT of teams including Maryland had FAR, FAR worse QBs.

Ridley just isn't that good. He's a speed player with great route-running, yes. But he's not dangerous with wiggle nor with power. He doesn't score a lot of TDs.
5 TDs on 63 catches? Not impressive.

People want to compare him to Marvin Harrison who of course was Marvin Harrison because he had Peyton Manning.

Ridley is not a plus blocker, not a plus after the catch guy, not a plus fade player.
He's not even really a back shoulder guy.
He's simply an old school run the route and hit him on timing throw type.
Those are complimentary WRs in today's NFL that live mostly in the slot as WR3.

Anyone who drafts Ridley top 20 will regret it.

A lot of guys right now are just wrong about Ridley. And that's OK.
But Jalen Hurts is going to be able to pick his spot if he transfers.
He completed over 60% of his passes and 17 TDs to 1 INT last year. A LOT of teams including Maryland had FAR, FAR worse QBs.

Ridley just isn't that good. He's a speed player with great route-running, yes. But he's not dangerous with wiggle nor with power. He doesn't score a lot of TDs.
5 TDs on 63 catches? Not impressive.

People want to compare him to Marvin Harrison who of course was Marvin Harrison because he had Peyton Manning.

Ridley is not a plus blocker, not a plus after the catch guy, not a plus fade player.
He's not even really a back shoulder guy.
He's simply an old school run the route and hit him on timing throw type.
Those are complimentary WRs in today's NFL that live mostly in the slot as WR3.

Anyone who drafts Ridley top 20 will regret it.

You seem to not like Ridley at all. I will agree that he is not a top 20 pick. He moves so well out of his brakes. His game speed is electrifying. Ridley 's athleticism gives me a pass as well as his hands.

You seem to be high on the Alabama quarterback. He was out played in a Spring game yesterday by a freshman and was benched in the National Championship game. But ok. When he transfers teams will want him. NFL teams will have him as a running back when he enters the draft.