Tag: Calvin Ridley fantasy football

Calvin Ridley joins the revamped Titans offense

The Titans add Calvin Ridley for their new commitment to the pass

The Tennessee Titans signed Calvin Ridley to a four-year, $92 million contract that includes $50 million in guarantees. The Jaguars added Gabe Davis to cushion the blow but the Titans acquired another wideout that has an elite ceiling. Derrick Henry just moved on to the Ravens, and the Titans offense will be all new this season under head coach Brian Callahan.

The Titans have long been a run-heavy offense and the rookie Will Levis took over midway through the season. They ranked  No. 32 in pass attempts (490) and completions (302) and only No. 31 in pass touchdowns (12) last season. That’s sure to change with the addition of Ridley who joins DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks in the new offensive scheme that Callahan is importing from his years as the Bengals offensive coordinator.

YEAR TM GMS RUNS YARDS TDS PASS COMP YARDS TDS PPR PTS RANK PPR
2018 ATL 16 6 27 0 92 64 821 10 208.8 19
2019 ATL 13 2 34 0 93 63 866 7 195.0 27
2020 ATL 15 5 1 0 143 90 1374 9 281.5 5
2021 ATL 5 0 0 0 52 31 281 2 71.1 100
2023 JAC 17 9 23 0 136 76 1016 8 227.9 19

Ridley had a breakout 2020 season when he caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns to end as the No. 5 fantasy wideout that year. He would step away from football in 2021 due to mental health reasons and then was suspended for the 2022 season, due to betting on NFL games.

Ridley reclaimed his career in 2023 when he led the Jaguars with 76 catches for 1,106 yards and eight scores – double that of any other team mate. He has a chance to supply the No. 1 role in Tennessee with the 31-year-old Hopkins on the downside of his career.

The Titans also added Mason Rudolph to back-up Levis, and the passing scheme will not be the league’s worst again this year. With the backfield no longer the center of the offense, Ridley has a chance to keep his career on track.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) receives a pass to bring in a touchdown past Tennessee Titans cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting (0) during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.

The best fantasy football gamble of Week 11

In a season filled with ups and downs, expect a return to fantasy utility from this wideout.

Every week, at least one player becomes my fascination of whether he’s worthy of a fantasy football start as a streamer. The decision can be a mental wrestling match, but for the purpose of brevity, only one player can be chosen as my favorite fantasy football gamble of the week.

The players chosen in this series are meant to be fliers for fantasy owners in desperate situations or those willing to take an intentional risk. No player is intended to be a lineup lock for guaranteed results, hence the name of the series.

The best fantasy football gamble for Week 11

Tracking my 2023 predictions: 3-7-0
All-time record: 21-38-3 (36.3%)

Win: Player produces ≥ 75% of projected fantasy points
Loss: Player produces >75% of projected fantasy points
Tie: Player is ejected, leaves with an injury, or is ruled out after publishing

This year, we’ll also track the accuracy on a percentage basis to show relative results, since sometimes calling a player a loss doesn’t actually hurt gamers. An example would be if a projection narrowly falls short of the 75 percent threshold, the player is still of use in a lineup.

Wk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
% 55 74.7 41.7 20.8 150.3 66.5 16.1 25.5 88 121.4
Grade E C F- F- A+ D F- F- B+ A+

Well, look at that … consecutive “wins” and a resounding one last week with the choice of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. Hopefully, this slight momentum builds and leads to a third straight week of successful prognostication!

Like Smith, this week’s selection is a universally owned receiver whose preseason expectations have overshadowed his actual production.

Jacksonville Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley vs. Tennessee Titans

The former Atlanta Falcons receiver has been all over the map in 2023, and the last four games have seen Ridley post three lines with 26 offensive yards being his ceiling; a six-catch, 83-yarder headlines that stretch. He hasn’t scored since Week 4.

It hasn’t been all bad for Ridley in his first year as a Jaguar. He has four games with at least 11.8 PPR returns, and two of those outings were north of 20 points. Six of his nine appearances have seen at least seven targets sent Ridley’s way. His biggest issue has been wild inconsistency. The peaks and valleys have been dramatic, and when the vet has been bad, we’re talking four games with seven or fewer points. Some of the struggles can be pinned on erratic quarterback play, but difficult matchups have factored in a substantial manner.

The matchup is 14.9% easier to exploit than the league average on the year and 11.3% softer in the last five weeks. Tennessee having faced a pair of suspect passing games along the way (IND, ATL) has kept this from being an even stronger matchup rating.

There’s a quality opportunity to get on track this week vs. a Tennessee unit that has permitted wide receivers to average the 13th-most catches and 12th-most yards per game since Week 5 ended. A dozen squads have ceded TDs at a higher clip over that period. On the year, eight receivers have gone for at least 16 PPR points against the Titans, and Ridley should make it nine.

My projection: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 79 yards, 1 TD (20.9 PPR points)

Is Calvin Ridley ready to return to form in fantasy football?

After missing most of the last two years, is Ridley really back?

Following the 2020 season, it appeared as if wide receiver Calvin Ridley was going to one of the NFL’s biggest stars. After two seasons paired with future Hall of Famer Julio Jones in Atlanta, Ridley stepped forward as the main man in the offense in 2020. Coming off a season with 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns, Ridley’s name was included among the elite fantasy wide receivers.

Unfortunately, Ridley’s career – and his life – took a sharp turn five weeks into the 2021 season when he stepped away from the Falcons to deal with mental health issues. During that time it was learned he had played much of the 2020 season with a broken bone in his foot and part of his troubles were depression and a growing dependence on painkillers. His career took another downward turn when it was learned he was gambling on football while he was out and received a one-year suspension that cost him the 2021 season.

Now healthy both physically and mentally, Ridley is getting a fresh start with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He fills a void in the Jaguars offense as a downfield threat who can beat press coverage and blow the top off of defenses.

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In just two years, the Jaguars have completely revamped their offense. They used the first pick of the 2021 draft to select Trevor Lawrence and doubled down by drafting RB Travis Etienne, a teammate of Lawrence’s at Clemson, as the primary rushing threat. The organization used free agency to provide Lawrence with weapons – bringing in tight end Evan Engram and wide receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones last year.

While all of them were significant contributors last year – Etienne ran for 1,125 yards and all three receivers caught more than 70 passes. Missing was a physical wide receiver who could either command double-teams or take a corner one-on-one downfield and consistently win contested deep throws. Head coach Doug Pederson has said the team is bringing Ridley along slowly to ease him back into playing shape, but all signs point to him being on the field Week 1 and reclaiming his career after 23 months away.

Fantasy football outlook

Talented wide receivers have become subject to the trade market in recent years, including stars like Stefon Diggs, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams and Amari Cooper. One thing all those players have in common is that their production didn’t take a step backward. All five of them had among the most prolific seasons of their careers in 2022 with the teams that traded for them.

The same should be true with Ridley. His ADP currently has him coming off draft boards as a late WR2 or a WR3, which provides huge fantasy value given the offense he’s joining. The other star receivers who were traded came to organizations with distinct plans for them that were executed to perfection.

In Jacksonville, Ridley is likely going to be the designated deep threat, which always registers fantasy points, albeit sometimes with inconsistent results. He has a high ceiling and, just as importantly, a high floor. If he lasts to the WR3 level, Ridley could be one of the biggest steals in fantasy drafts this year. Get him if you can if he drops that far.

Calvin Ridley will be a top-10 fantasy football wide receiver in 2020

Atlanta’s personnel deficiencies should make Calvin Ridley an elite fantasy receiver.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley enters his third pro season with considerable fanfare, but his average draft placement of 4:06 in point-per-reception leagues actually may not be early enough. While everyone wants a bargain, don’t expect there to be a discount on what Ridley offers. In fact, if you’re as high on him as warranted, Ridley is a reasonable reach into the late third round to avoid missing out.

Pros

  • Extremely productive over his first two seasons, especially at finding the end zone
  • Draws single coverage with regularity but capable of beating doubles
  • Will see a dramatic increase in action with tight end Austin Hooper gone — largely unproven Hayden Hurst replaces him
  • More looks yet are available after replacing Devonta Freeman with Todd Gurley — it’s not that Gurley cannot catch but rather the likelihood Atlanta will want to keep him fresh
  • No one to speak of as the third receiver after the Mohamed Sanu trade last year
  • Proven, veteran quarterback with whom Ridley has chemistry
  • Porous defense will put the offense in holes in a division that has opened up offensively
  • Said division has weak cornerback play
  • Games at home half of the year are a plus
  • Improved offensive line by way of maturation
  • Actually more consistent in 2019 than Julio Jones
  • Offensive system hasn’t changed, so less to focus on during abbreviated offseason
  • Eighth-best fantasy football strength of schedule

[lawrence-related id=452542]

Cons

  • Second fiddle to Jones caps Ridley’s talent-to-output ratio
  • So-so closing schedule over Weeks 14-16 (@LAC, TB, @KC)
  • Battled hip and abdominal strains in 2019, missing three games
  • Limited experience out of the slot, where his athleticism would help create mismatches

Fantasy football outlook

The offense loses 209 targets, or 32 percent of it’s attempted passes from 2019, when Freeman (70), Hooper (97) and Sanu (42 in seven games) are removed. Those looks have to go somewhere, and while all of them won’t be toward Ridley, it’s not like Jones will see that many more added to his 157 from last season. Gurley was targeted only 49 times by the Los Angeles Rams in 2019, down from at least 81 in the prior two seasons. And it’s far from a guarantee Gurley finishes the year, even with a reduced workload.

In the event Jones gets hurt — something he has been no stranger to in his career — in his age-31 season, Ridley likely becomes a top-five fantasy receiver each week. Should Julio remain on the field, Ridley still has the potential for an 80-1,150-10 season as the No. 2 target. That would place him as the 2019 No. 7 fantasy receiver in PPR. Lofty but not lunacy. Nevertheless, 75 receptions for 1,050 yards and eight TDs is still a nice floor as a WR2.