ScoutingReport
Calvin Ridley, Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley, 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, is in his third season with the Falcons after they drafted him with the 26th pick in 2018 out of Alabama. The older brother of Bears receiver Riley Ridley, he has 16 receptions for 239 yards and four touchdowns a year after he caught 63 passes for 866 yards and seven touchdowns.
Ridley is tied with the Buffalo Bills’ Stefon Diggs for the most receiving yards in the league, and his four touchdown grabs rank No. 1. He has 21 career touchdown catches in 31 games. Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, only five players have more receiving scores in that span, so he’s a serious red-zone threat for quarterback Matt Ryan.
“He’s an ascending player,” the scout said. “Extremely detailed route runner, and he’s got twitch coming out of his breaks. Not a high-end athlete. You can look at his testing numbers (fromthe scouting combine) and he’s average. But he wins because he’s got a great feel for howto run routes and they set him upwell. They reduce his splits to give him field toworkwith on outs and comebacks. They’re starting to scheme him up more to createmore explosive plays with deep crossers and overs off play action. He can win isolation routes. Routerunning wise, not as physical as RobertWoods (of the Rams), but in a similar mold. More of a finesse player. He’s not overly physical, but as a route runner and with the volume he’s started to get in that offense, he’s eventually going to be aNo. 1 target.
“Sure, he benefits fromJulio Jones being there. But Julio has been banged up. The No. 1 thing in passing situations when you playAtlanta is find Julio, but you’ve got to start considering, ‘What’s our matchup for Ridley?’ when you prepare for the Falcons. He’s starting to makemore explosive plays. They’re scheming him up more now. This is a good matchup for the Bears. It’s one thing to do against LionswithoutKenny Golladay. Another thing versus theGiants. This is a much better test. See where the rookie Jaylon Johnson is this week. Howdoes he play?”
Information for this reportwas obtained fromNFL scouts.