When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded for Calvin Ridley in 2022, they showed that they were trying to put together a championship-caliber roster. The move came with a caveat, though. At the time, the former Alabama standout was serving a suspension, and it wasn't until 2023 that he was able to join the Jags.
In retrospect, Ridley was a fine player, but because the Jags didn't make an effort to sign him long-term early on, they had to ultimately let him walk in free agency. Although both parties were interested in getting a deal done, the 2018 first-round pick ended up bolting for the rival Tennessee Titans.
Fast forward to 2025, and allowing Ridley to join the Titans was the right call, based on an alarming stat.
Former Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley is struggling with the Tennessee Titans
One of the reasons Calvin Ridley joined the Titans was that his drops with the Jaguars were under too much scrutiny. However, it didn't take him long to find out that things weren't much better in Tennessee. There were times when he was hardly targeted, and his drops were still an issue.
That said, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native still finished with 64 receptions for 1,017 yards with four touchdowns in his first season with the Titans. Not bad at all, but that production hasn't carried over into 2025.
As Ted Nguyen of The Athletic points out, Ridley has hauled in eight receptions on 21 targets, making it terribly inefficient to throw him the ball.
Calvin Ridley has 8 catches on 21 targets. Throwing to him is terribly inefficient.
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 22, 2025
Similarly, Justin Melo of Titansized points out that Ridley is the third-worst receiver in terms of catch rate, and his four drops lead the NFL three weeks into the season.
Related: The Jags already stuck wishing they had waited to trade Tank Bigsby
The Jaguars don't miss Calvin RIdley with Brian Thomas Jr. in the mix
Calvin Ridley was a fine player for the Jaguars, registering 76 receptions for 1,016 yards with eight touchdowns. On top of that, he had an affinity for drawing pass interference calls in his favor. Rightly, the Jags wanted to keep him around, but because general manager Trent Baalke didn't lock up pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen before 2024's free agency, he used the franchise tag. This, in turn, prevented Jacksonville from using the tag on Ridley.
The silver lining is that by not handling negotiations well, Ridley walked, and the Jaguars replaced him with Brian Thomas Jr. in the 2024 draft. Granted, the former first-round pick is off to a slow start to his sophomore campaign but had a dominant rookie year, tallying 82 receptions for 1,282 yards (third-best in the NFL) and 10 touchdowns, all better numbers than what Ridley posted.
Of course, Calvin Ridley is not the sole reason the Titans are currently 0-3, but he's not helping much either. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are off to a promising start to the 2025 season.