Less than a month ago, fantasy football managers were tripping over themselves in praising Jacksonville Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley’s future stock. Now? Now, they’re left wondering if they’re holding an asset that peaked on the second drive of the season that they failed to move at the right time.
In reality, the truth lies somewhere in the middle of extreme panic and league-winning upside. What has happened through four games, and what do the next 13 look like for Ridley?
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Calvin Ridley’s Struggles Through Week 4
Ridley looked like a bonafide superstar on the second possession of the season (four catches for 41 yards and a touchdown), as he showed no rust and a very clear connection with Trevor Lawrence.
Since then, however, the production hasn’t just failed to live up to the hype that his start to the season generated. They’ve failed to be usable for fantasy managers.
Ridley wasn’t a top-60 receiver in Week 2 or Week 3, and while he scored in London in Week 4, that was more the result of a defensive miscommunication than anything.
The #Falcons completely loose Calvin Ridley as he scores the TD in a revenge game! pic.twitter.com/HQ5j8wdSQa
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 1, 2023
My concern level for Ridley stems from his lack of efficiency in the two weeks prior to this dud. Against the Falcons, he saw a lot of A.J. Terrell, and elite corners are going to have shutdown days like what we saw in London.
As a person with a bunch of Ridley, I hated to see it, but the Week 4 game wasn’t as much of a red flag as the 33.3% catch rate in Weeks 2-3.
The volume, prior to Week 4, had been acceptable (23% share), making Ridley’s value moving forward more a matter of getting on the same page with Lawrence than needing to carve out a new niche in this offense.
Ridley’s Value Rest of Season
Would I have preferred Ridley to sustain his Week 1 success? Of course, but for a receiver who hardly played football for a two-year stretch, a slow three-week stretch shouldn’t be a surprise, nor should it be used to write him off.
MORE: PFN Consensus Rankings
I still believe Ridley is the top option in this Jacksonville passing game and that this offense has the potential to be top 10 in the league moving forward. That said, the lack of efficiency has cost him a few spots in my rest-of-season rankings.
At this moment in time, I have Ridley slotted in just ahead of the WR1s on teams with a quarterback I don’t trust and behind the WR2s on elite offenses. That pencils him in ahead of Amari Cooper and Michael Pittman Jr. but behind options like Jaylen Waddle and Tee Higgins.