Tag: Desmond Ridder

Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder plans to silence the Notre Dame crowd

Desmond Ridder isn’t short on confidence, and plans to send the Notre Dame crowd home disappointed Saturday

One of the marquee matchups on this week’s college football slate will happen in South Bend, when No. 7 Cincinnati makes the short trip to face No. 9 Notre Dame.

The Bearcats boast one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class, and he’s not short on confidence heading into Saturday’s top-10 road showdown.

Desmond Ridder was asked about the crowd noise at Notre Dame Stadium, and his response made it clear that he plans to send the Fighting Irish faithful home disappointed (via Pro Football Focus).

Ridder passed up the 2021 NFL draft for another season at the college level, giving him a chance to sharpen his skill set before making the jump to the pros. It’s also given him the chance to lead the Bearcats to a potential College Football Playoff berth, something that would be much more likely if his team can pull off this big victory.

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Cincinnati quarterback thinks they’ll silence the Notre Dame crowd

It’s going to be loud Saturday

Every week at any level of football is the biggest week of the year and this Saturday is no different for the Irish. They welcome in defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman’s former team, the No.9 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.

It presents yet another ranked opponent in front of Notre Dame, this one at home. The Bearcats come in confident, especially fourth-year starter Desmond Ridder. He enters the contest with tons of experience and a winning resume. Over his four seasons he’s guided Cincinnati to a 34-5 record while throwing 64 touchdown passes to just 22 interceptions. Ridder has played in plenty of big games on the road and this one won’t phase him at all.

He told Cincinnati TV sports reporter Brandon Saho that Notre Dame Stadium “shouldn’t be loud for too long.” Clearly Ridder is implying that not only will the Bearcats play well, but they’ll silence the crowd early with their play.

I love the confidence but Ridder doesn’t have to play against the soon to be raucous fans. He’s going to have to go against Isaiah Foskey, Kyle Hamilton, JD Bertrand, the Ademilola brothers, Cam Hart and the rest of the Irish defense. His focus should be on them, not the crowd. Ridder is just adding fuel to the Irish’s fire, and a defense that saw turn a huge corner against Wisconsin last week.

Tale of the Tape: Starting Quarterbacks – Jack Coan vs. Desmond Ridder

Who do you think has this edge?

As of this writing, we don’t know if Jack Coan will be healthy enough to start for Notre Dame against Cincinnati. For now, we’re going with the assumption that that will be the case, though we don’t know which version of him we would get. If it’s him, we know we’ll see the offense continue to run through his passing ability, and that’s he’s right on the cusp of 1,000 passing yards through four games. We also know his ability to run probably will get worse before it gets better, assuming that happens at all.

The Bearcats will counter with Desmond Ridder, who has been very efficient so far this season. He may not as many passing yards or touchdowns as Coan, but he will complete his passes and do a lot with them. He also can run if he needs to, and even that has shown to be productive. This is a quarterback who knows how to make his time on the field count.

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Desmond Ridder tallies 5 TDs as Cincinnati blows out Miami (OH)

Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder carved up Miami (OH) in Saturday’s season opener, accounting for five touchdowns

The Cincinnati Bearcats started their 2021 season with a bang, and their talented quarterback led the way with a five-touchdown performance.

Desmond Ridder tossed four touchdown passes in Saturday’s blowout win over Miami (OH), and found the end zone on the ground, as well.

Ridder did most of his damage in the first half, and finished his first game of the year with 295 yards through the air, completing 20 of his 25 passes. He added 31 yards rushing, but was also picked off once.

He could have likely been a Day 2 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, but Ridder returned to school for a chance to keep leading the Bearcats to a potential playoff berth. If he keeps putting up numbers like he did Saturday, he could improve his draft stock in the process.

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Saints invest heavily on offense in three-round 2022 mock draft

2022 NFL mock draft: A year after spending first 3 picks on defense, New Orleans Saints invest 3 rounds on their offense, via @TheDraftWire

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The New Orleans Saints spent their first three picks in the 2021 draft on defensive players, and now Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire forecasts the pendulum to swing in the other direction for 2022. His latest NFL mock draft has the Saints selecting three players on offense in rounds one, two, and three, including a potential new franchise quarterback. It’s ridiculously early in the draft process so use this more as a guide for names to know during the college football season.

Three Notre Dame players make Bruce Feldman’s annual freaks list

Look out for these players who are physically gifted.

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One of the major attractions of football at any level are the players who possess incredible physical gifts. Not every football player has them, so the players that do stand out.

To that end, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic has an annual tradition of making a list of players like this known that he calls freaks.

On this year’s list, which is available only to Athletic subscribers, three Notre Dame players appear:

3. Kyle Hamilton – Feldman cites the safety’s GPS speed of 21 miles per hour, his 41-foot, 7-inch vertical and his broad jump of 10-8.

45. Isaiah Foskey – Feldman likes the defensive end’s length and speed along with his GPS speed of 20.8 and his times of 1.58 seconds in the 10-yard split and 4.65 in the 40.

75. Chris Tyree – Feldman points out the running back’s 22.3 GPS speed, his 40.9 vertical jump and his time of 4.31 in the 40.

Here are the opposing players on the list that the Irish are scheduled to face in 2021:

7. George Karlaftis, defensive end, Purdue
20. Myjai Sanders, defensive end, Cincinnati
22. Leo Chenal, inside linebacker, Wisconsin
24. Kevin Harris, defensive end, Georgia Tech
46. Alec Pierce, receiver, Cincinnati
48. Tycen Anderson, safety, Toledo
56. Desmond Ridder, quarterback, Cincinnati
60. Drake London, receiver, USC
63. Matt Henningsen, defensive end, Wisconsin
87. Andy Vujnovich, punter, Wisconsin
93. Braxton Burmeister, quarterback, Virginia Tech

 

Giants select OL Kenyon Green, QB Desmond Ridder in PFN’s 2022 mock

The New York Giants select OL Kenyon Green and QB Desmond Ridder in Pro Football Network’s latest 2022 NFL mock draft.

Is it too early for a 2022 NFL mock draft? Well… yes, but here we are anyway, covering a mock for a draft that’s almost a full year away.

Pro Football Network recently released their latest 2022 mock draft and they have the New York Giants keeping and using both of their first-round picks (the second acquired in a draft day trade with the Chicago Bears).

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With their first pick, PFN has the Giants selecting Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green.

Thanks to their trade with the Chicago Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft, the New York Giants are in an excellent position to alter the franchise’s fortunes dramatically. In this 2022 NFL Mock Draft, they hold two top 10 selections, a sign that sticking with Daniel Jones for another year maybe didn’t work out all that well. Of course, the natural assumption is that they’d use this selection on a quarterback, but we all know what assumptions do.

The 2022 NFL Draft quarterback class contains a lot of uncertainty at this point. Although the Giants will get a new signal-caller shortly, there isn’t a prospect that necessitates them running up to the podium here. However, in offensive lineman Kenyon Green, there is.

They need to address the offensive line, and, for me, Green is comfortably the best offensive lineman in the class. He’ll play tackle for Texas A&M this year, but he’s an elite interior lineman. Wherever he lines up for the Giants, he will automatically upgrade the line.

Considering PFN gets to pick and choose where the Giants select in this mock draft (they chose Vegas odds), the argument that “picking here means Daniel Jones failed” holds no real water. It’s just a subjective assumption made by the author and some bookies.

That being said, the selection of Green makes sense. The Giants are arguably the weakest along their offensive line and specifically at guard. But again, we won’t know that for sure until nearly a year from now.

Next up, as PFN previously alluded and seemed in a rush to get to, the Giants select a Daniel Jones replacement with a near-carbon copy: Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder.

The Giants are all in on Daniel Jones — apparently. Their moves in the draft and free agency have set the third-year quarterback up for success. The addition of Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney offers Jones the best wide receiver room he’s had so far. As a result, there are no excuses. There has to be success this season. Picking twice in the top 10 would suggest that success is absent from the 2021 Giants.

Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder gives the Giants an exciting alternative to Jones. Yes, there are some accuracy issues that he needs to iron out. But when you combine the prototypical height of an NFL quarterback with a mesmerizing ability to create plays outside of the pocket, Ridder provides an intriguing potential replacement. He’ll likely compete at the Senior Bowl too, where winning the MVP award would practically guarantee him being drafted by the Giants.

The 6-foot-4 Ridder does have prototypical height. So does the 6-foot-5 Jones. And yes, Ridder does have an ability to create plays outside of the pocket. So does Jones.

PFN doesn’t hide that they’re not fans of Jones, so absorb this analysis with a grain of salt.

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Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder to bypass 2021 NFL draft, return for senior year

Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder will bypass the 2021 NFL draft and return to school for his senior season with the Bearcats

Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder told Yahoo! Sports on Friday that he will be returning to school and forgoing the 2021 NFL draft.

Ridder, who just finished up his redshirt junior year, played a huge role in the Bearcats’ undefeated regular season. He finished the 2020 season with 2,296 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 66.2. He also proved to be dangerous on the ground, rushing for 592 yards and 12 touchdowns on 91 carries.

Prior to his decision to return to school, Ridder was widely viewed as a potential Day 2 pick. His decision serves as a blow to the depth of the upcoming quarterback class, but it aids a 2022 draft class that projects to have a crowded race for the top quarterback spot. With another strong season like he had this year, Ridder could find himself in first-round conversation.

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Cincinnati fires back, go up 14-10 before the half

Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder scrambles out of trouble and finds a man for an 11-yard passing touchdown. The Bearcats lead UGA 14-10 at half.

With just 21 seconds left in the half of the 2021 Peach Bowl, Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder finds a man to get a first down inside the Bulldogs five yard line.  After the play, Cincinnati offensive lineman James Hudson got called for unnecessary roughness on Tyson Campbell that eventually got reviewed and changed to targeting.

Even with the penalty yards and time expiring, Ridder scrambled out of trouble and found his tight end Josh Whyle for the 11-yard touchdown.

Watch:

Cincinnati now leads the Dawgs 14-10 going into halftime.