Ridley Me This: Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley's value in Fantasy Football for 2023 season
By Scott Zacher
There are variables to take into account when it comes to Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley
Calvin Ridley hasn't played a meaningful football game in almost two years. Injuries, mental struggles, and a lengthy suspension all contributed to his absence. This has fantasy owners screaming "Caveat Emptor!!" Actually, fantasy owners are not typically known for their knowledge of Latin, but in any event, it's been "buyer beware" when it comes to Ridley.
His last full season saw him put up gaudy fantasy numbers - 90 rec, 1374 yds, 9 TDs - that landed him a top-five fantasy ranking the following year all the while competing with Julio Jones.
Those numbers are hard to ignore when building a fantasy roster, especially if he's sitting there in Round 7, and you blew your wad on running backs in the early rounds! Another circumstance surrounding this fantasy riddle is the Jaguars' offense. There have been two schools of thought in regard to Ridley's fantasy outlook.
One, he is a legitimate WR1 with a premier quarterback in a high-powered offense. He is a deep threat and will be the primary target for jump balls in the end zone, thus making him a fantasy stud who will finish in the top five in wide receiver fantasy points.
The opposing argument is that there are not enough balls to go around with the likes of Christian Kirk, Zay, Jones, Evan Engram, and even Travis Etienne out of the backfield competing for target shares. Ridley may just be the most talented decoy ever. Further enhancing the mystery of Calvin, the Jaguars face 10 of the top 16 defenses in the league this year, but they only face six that had success against the pass. It's not to say that Ridley will devolve into Allen Robinson-type numbers, but there should be legitimate concern about his production given his significant time away from the game coupled with the Jaguars' bountiful offensive weapons.