The Case for Calvin Ridley at 8
Should the Bears consider Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley with the 8th overall pick?
Calvin Ridley is widely considered the best wide receiver in the draft. The argument could be made that the Chicago Bears still need help at wide receiver. With that said, it seems like the perfect fit with the 8th overall pick- but not so fast.
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Ridley is considered the best of a very deep wide receiver class, but at the same time, it’s deep, not top-heavy. Ridley has been the best wide receiver on the Alabama Crimson Tide over the past three seasons, but his numbers are far from gaudy. Many consider the offensive style and Jalen Hurts being the QB as the main reason Ridley’s college stats aren’t more impressive, but perhaps there is another reason. Ridley had his best season as a freshman when Jake Coker was the QB. In 2015, Ridley had 1045 receiving yards on 89 catches with 7 TDs. In 2016 (Hurts arrival), Ridley dropped to 72 catches for 769 yards and 7 TDs. In 2017, Ridley’s numbers dropped again, this time only catching 63 catches for 967 yards and only 5 TDs.
Most people chalked up the slip in numbers to Hurts’ presence, but when players went to the combine, Ridley’s stock took a hit.
Ridley showed a noticeable lack of athleticism at the combine, something that NFL evaluators weren’t too pleased about. Now they say tape always triumphs, and Ridley’s tape is far better than his combine. He shows the ability to get great separation from corners, he plays faster on tape than he did at the combine, he has very good hands and shows great ability to gain yards after the catch.
Unfortunately, if Ridley plays against a stronger corner, he struggles if the corner gets in tight on him, he doesn’t have a lot of strength, plenty of scouts have questioned if he’s willing to go over the middle to make the tough catch, and despite showing good hands, he does tend to drop simple catches as well.
While the positives are there to make Ridley the selection, there are plenty of drawbacks to question if Ridley is even the best wide receiver in the draft, let alone a top ten pick.
If Ridley is the guy that Ryan Pace covets, it’s a better bet to trade down into the teens and select him there rather than with the eighth overall selection. Ridley seems to be a safe prospect who will contribute to the team, but he doesn’t seem to have a very high ceiling. Ridley seems more likely to settle in as a team’s WR2 (or even a WR3) rather than become a top target. While that might be good enough for the Bears with Allen Robinson on the roster, at the same time, Pace has shown that he looks for guys with high ceilings. In that case, Ridley doesn’t fit the profile. While Ridley makes sense in a lot of ways, expect Pace to look elsewhere.