On Wednesday, the Tennessee Titans traded veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs, meaning Calvin Ridley will be their clear-cut WR1 going forward. However, Ridley is now dealing with a foot injury. Will he be able to play in Week 8 when the Titans face the Detroit Lions?
What Happened to Calvin Ridley?
Ridley did not practice on Wednesday due to his foot injury, so this is a situation worth monitoring. It’s unclear how Ridley injured his foot, and it’s possible the Titans are just being cautious with the veteran wide receiver.
Ridley briefly left the Titans’ Week 7 game against the Buffalo Bills, but that seemed to be related to his knee, so this is a new injury. Be sure to check the practice reports throughout the rest of the week to see if Ridley can at least get in a limited practice, and then take a look at the Titans’ injury report on Friday to see if Ridley has an injury designation.
Fantasy Outlook for Ridley
Ridley was banged up early last week and still has just one top-40 finish (Week 2) on his 2024 ledger.
Woof.
The Lions have given up plenty of receiver points this season. They’ve also faced some of the brightest stars in the game (Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, and CeeDee Lamb to name a few).
Ridley isn’t the player we remember from his Jacksonville days, and with Detroit blitzing at the seventh-highest rate this season, you’re asking a lot for whoever is under center in Tennessee to support any receiver.
Target volume wasn’t the issue for Ridley, so Hopkins taking his talents to Kansas City doesn’t shift my position on the state of Tennessee’s offense. Ridley’s targets are empty calories, and that’s not going to change.
Tennessee Titans (1-5) at Detroit Lions (5-1) Preview
The Titans have only trailed at halftime in one of their six games this season. However, Tennessee is outscored 94-43 (-51) in the second half, which is the worst second-half point differential of any team this season.
It seems like Mason Rudolph will start over Will Levis in Week 7. The Titans are averaging -0.19 EPA per play with Levis on the field, which would rank 30th. With Rudolph on the field, the Titans are averaging -0.17 EPA per play, which would rank 28th. Defensively, the Titans are allowing a league-low 5.7 yards per play-action pass this season, a key cog to the Lions’ offensive scheme.
The Lions have a plus-62 point differential through six games played. It’s their second-best point differential through six games in the last 40 years. Jared Goff has posted at least a 140 passer rating in three straight games. That’s tied for the longest streak in NFL history, along with Aaron Rodgers (2011), Kurt Warner (1999), and Roger Staubach (1971).
The Lions didn’t average more than 2.36 points per drive in any of their first three games this season. Since, however, they’ve been at 2.82 or better, averaging a difficult-to-comprehend 3.53 points per drive over that stretch. Defensively, in Weeks 3-6, the Lions blitzed on just 28.4% of opponent dropbacks, spiking to 38.9% last week in Minnesota without Aidan Hutchinson.