The Jacksonville Jaguars showed the rest of the NFL last year that they are a team moving forward that could be contending for championships in the future. Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley will be a big part of the offense, but let’s take a look at whether you should go with Ridley or Kirk in Week 1 of fantasy football.
Christian Kirk Fantasy Outlook This Week
Kirk was the big acquisition last year, signing a four-year, $84 million deal. He followed that up with 84 catches, 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns.
Last season against the Colts, Kirk had three of his eight touchdowns in the two games. In the first matchup, he had six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. In the second game, he had five catches for 24 yards and one score, but he also lost his only fumble of the season.
Kirk quickly got on the same page as his quarterback last year, and Lawrence trusted him in big moments.
He had four games last year with double-digit targets and was the true No. 1 receiver on this team.
Ridley Fantasy Outlook This Week
Ridley has been out a long time, as he played only five games in 2021 before being suspended all of last season. However, in his career, he has shown when he is on the field, he can be a big-time player.
In three seasons playing at least 13 games in Atlanta from 2018-2020, Ridley averaged 82 catches, 1,020 yards, and nine touchdowns.
While he has had to deal with some off-the-field stuff over the past couple of seasons, there is no denying that Ridley has star potential.
He is a tremendous athlete, who despite being only 6’1″, can go up and win the 50/50 passes.
The last full season Ridley played in was 2020, and he had 90 catches, 1,374 yards, and nine touchdowns on a 4-12 Falcons team. He was a second-team All-Pro in that season.
Which of the Jaguars’ Wide Receivers Should You Start?
Last year in Kirk’s first game with the Jaguars, he got the ball thrown to him 12 times. Lawrence did an awesome job of looking for his new receiver early and often in that game.
Expect the same thing with Ridley this season. If Ridley comes back close to the player he was two and a half years ago, the Jaguars have a guy who is capable of being a No. 1 target.
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This is a huge season for him as he will be looking for a contract after this year and will need to go out and prove he is back to the player he was.
Not only is Ridley the guy this week, Ridley is a guy who should be on your roster every week. He is going to be a guy that, at the end of the season, will be on a lot of fantasy teams that win championships. That starts with a big Week 1 performance against the Colts.