Dynasty League Football Forum

I'm just confused whenever I see Calvin Ridley ranked in the top 3 rookie wr rankings... He has average production, late breakout age, and abysmal athleticism. There are literally no productive NFL receivers that entered the league as 5-11 to 6-1 and at 23 years old. I'd honestly take Michael Gallup over Ridley.

I can't. Massively over rated prospect by the mainstream media. I think he's a teams number 2 or 3 WR. Does not have any chance of being a number 1 IMO, so I don't know how that warrants a first round pick.

Did you ever see what kind of QB he was working with? Not saying Ridley will be a WR1, but his production at Alabama was severely hurt by his QB.

Cult of Dionysus wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:54 pm Did you ever see what kind of QB he was working with? Not saying Ridley will be a WR1, but his production at Alabama was severely hurt by his QB.

We can account for that quarterback play with market share. He only had a 30% college dominator (51st percentile)

FantasyFreak wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:49 pm I can't. Massively over rated prospect by the mainstream media. I think he's a teams number 2 or 3 WR. Does not have any chance of being a number 1 IMO, so I don't know how that warrants a first round pick.

my thoughts exactly

Cult of Dionysus wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:54 pm Did you ever see what kind of QB he was working with? Not saying Ridley will be a WR1, but his production at Alabama was severely hurt by his QB.

OF course it was. It's not his production that concerns me. It's how he projects to translate to the next level, and it's not a teams WR1. It's a 2nd or 3rd option in a passing game. The only thing people can really give him is his route running, which should be expected in a prospect his age. Prospects like DJ Moore, who had equally poor QB play, and put up numbers that were just as good, have so much more upside, and I don't think the floor is any less. Is Moore as polished a route runner? No. He's also two and a half years younger, so he's not expected to be. In 2.5 years DJ Moore will be the same age as Ridley, with all that time gaining NFL experience and honing his craft with NFL coaches. Just an example, but if your going to spend a first round pick on a WR, you do it on a guy like DJ Moore, not Calvin Ridley.

Nobody on this board will. Twitter has already decided his fate.

I think he is getting so much pub because somebody has to and quite frankly, at this point 2018 appears to have a very subpar WR class.

Jason3123 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:46 pm Nobody on this board will. Twitter has already decided his fate.

true but it is bizarre that almost everyone on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=156151 has him in their top 5.

I mean, i think the discussion becomes a lot shorter when we begin with the assumption that dominator rating and breakout age are as predictive as we want them to be.

Goirish374 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:36 am I mean, i think the discussion becomes a lot shorter when we begin with the assumption that dominator rating and breakout age are as predictive as we want them to be.

I mean, I provided the chart which shows that there no receivers in his archetype that have succeeded, and that isn't even including his lackluster production.

bsp27 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:39 am

Goirish374 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:36 am I mean, i think the discussion becomes a lot shorter when we begin with the assumption that dominator rating and breakout age are as predictive as we want them to be.

I mean, I provided the chart which shows that there no receivers in his archetype that have succeeded, and that isn't even including his lackluster production.

Then we’re done!

bsp27 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:39 am

Goirish374 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:36 am I mean, i think the discussion becomes a lot shorter when we begin with the assumption that dominator rating and breakout age are as predictive as we want them to be.

I mean, I provided the chart which shows that there no receivers in his archetype that have succeeded, and that isn't even including his lackluster production.

It's not like anyone in that chart had a high draft pedigree either.

He's from a successful Alabama program, which produced Amari Cooper and Julio Jones.
He has a cool name.

Okay, that's all I got.
If I need a rookie WR in the 10-20 pick range, and he's there, I might take a flyer.

-oo-

I think there's a lot of people that are letting the hype created around Ridley define their view and expectations of his. People who bought into the "Amari Cooper's successor" hype are now doing a 180 as they are upset to find out that they bought into unfounded hype, as Cooper and Ridley are nothing alike. People who were never huge Ridley fans are using the fact that he's not an elite athlete or seemingly surefire prospect to dog him and pile on post-combine, despite him being a good football player yet not a surefire prospect.

I don't agree with OP's knock on Ridley about his late breakout because he's a bit of a special case as he was something like a 20 year old freshman. Obviously that's not working in his favor, but if a guy didn't step foot on a college field until he was almost 20 years old of course his breakout age isn't going to be great. But he did have a pretty good freshman year, so he came into his own in the college game quickly.

I do agree with previous posts in this same thread that think he's going to be a WR2-WR3 in the league. Ridley reminds me of a hybrid between Stevie Johnson and John Brown. He's an older, slightly-built prospect who will be a 24 year old rookie, much like Brown. Like Brown he's got good hands and can take the top off of a defense. Unlike Brown, he's not AS explosive, however he's got a more convincing college experience (SEC/Bama vs Pittsburgh State/DII for Smokey). Like Johnson (once he came into his own in the league a few seasons in), his route-running can put dudes on skates and make DB's look foolish, and he seems potentially effective at moving the chains for an offense as he's pretty solid at all 3 levels of the field. He's a bit bigger and less sudden than Brown, and he's a bit smaller and faster than Johnson.

Is Ridley worth a top 6 pick? Well, it depends. Ridley on say, the Saints opposite of Michael Thomas with Brees slinging it? Sure. Ridley on the Colts opposite of TY with a healthy Luck? Absolutely. Ridley on the Ravens with Flacco? Ehhhhh, probably not.

John Brown's best year to date for his career: 65/1003/7
Stevie Johnson's best years to date for his career: 82/1073/10, 76/1004/7, 79/10046/6

If he lands in an ideal situation, I'm comfortable nabbing him as early as 1.03.
If he lands in a good but not great situation, I'm comfortable drafting him at 1.05 and later.
If he lands in a terrible situation, I'm comfortable drafting him at 1.08 and later.

FWIW he is my WR3:

1. Sutton
2. Miller
3. Ridley
4. Washington
5. ESB

If you watched NFL Network's coverage of the Combine, you'd have heard alot of enthusiasm for Ridley. Even when the TEs were on the field, they found a way to show Ridley footage and discuss him. Michael Irvin in particular was very enthusiastic.