NFL officially reinstates Jacksonville Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley: 3 immediate takeaways

1. The Jacksonville Jaguars can have a top 3 offense with Calvin Ridley

The Jaguars’ offense ranked 10th in the league in both total yards and points scored last year. That was without Calvin Ridley. Trevor Lawrence made a leap and running back Travis Etienne logged over 1,100 rushing yards. Moreover, Zay Jones, Christian Kirk, and Evan Engrams all had a huge impact in their first season in Jacksonville.

The addition of Ridley could turn the Jags from good to great. Make no mistake, even if Ridley hadn’t been reinstated, the offense would have most likely improved, as this head coach Doug Pederson’s second year running the show.

Think about how successful Lawrence and the offense were even though they were still getting a hold of Pederson’s system in training camp. After getting knocked out of the playoffs by the Kansas City Chiefs, the Jaguars are motivated more than ever to return to the postseason and Ridley’s will increase their chances.

It’s true that the Jaguars will most likely part ways with wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. in free agency but Ridley would be a huge upgrade. For him to be that upgrade though, he would need to play the way he did in 2020, when he hauled in 90 receptions for 1,374 yards with nine touchdowns.

Ridley has been working out on his own and indicated he’s in great shape even though he hasn’t been at an NFL facility and even if he isn’t 100 percent, he’ll have plenty of time before the 2023 season to shake off the rust.

The Jaguars turned heads last season when they worst to first in the AFC South and made the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Having Ridley back from his suspension will ensure they’ll keep making noise in 2023.