Riley Ridley: The Next Great Slot WR of the NFL
Going into day three of the NFL Draft on Saturday, my thoughts centered around addressing needs in the secondary, such as a future starter at corner or safety, or getting another developmental pass rusher since Aaron Lynch is only on a one-year deal.
Instead, the Bears addressed one of their deepest positions, wide receiver, and selected the Georgia product Riley Ridley with the 126th overall pick.
When this pick happened, it was a bit of a head scratcher to me, as the Bears have a really solid group to build around at receiver. After watching Ridley play more, I certainly see why the Bears pulled the trigger on Roquan Smith’s ex-teammate. Taylor Gabriel is now 28 years old and could be a potential cut after the 2019 season as his cap number is quite high. The Bears had the mindset of drafting the best player on their board and addressing a future need. The Bears checked both of those boxes with this pick.
Riley Ridley’s best trait is his route running. Ridley runs very crisp routes and creates a ton of separation with his fluid footwork. He can make sudden cuts at the top of his routes to create a ton of separation, and, at times, make DBs look foolish. You don’t see this out of a college receiver often, considering how much more complex the route tree is at the NFL level, but Ridley is way ahead of his fellow 2019 draftees in this aspect. Look at this play against one of the better teams in the SEC, LSU.
The receiver in the slot runs a route to the flat, which occupies the corner and gives Ridley one on one coverage with the safety. Ridley fakes the out route and the safety bites hard, leaving the middle of the field wide open. This shows Ridley’s ability to run crisp routes and get DBs off balance with his light feet and natural cutting abilities.
“When you’re watching him, you consistently see him separating from man coverage,” Pace said. “I think it’s because of his physical skill set, but also because he’s a very good route runner. So that’s one of the first things that jumps outs — just how defined his routes are, how crisp his routes are and how he knows how to set guys up.”
Ridley also possesses fantastic body control. He is able to contort his body to shield defenders from the ball, and also get his feet down in bounds to secure a catch. Most of the guys that have this skill mastered are bigger receivers, like Julio Jones or Deandre Hopkins. Granted, these are the two best receivers in the league, but Ridley certainly doesn’t fit the mold of a receiver with great body control, as Ridley stands at 6’1 and 199lbs, compared to Julio’s towering frame of 6’4 and 220lbs.
This play still shows off Ridley’s crisp route running, but also shows his ability to control his body, as he shields the corner from the ball, gets both feet down, and takes it to the house for six.
“When he was in here (for a top 30 visit), one of his quotes was, ‘I’m not a 50–50 guy. I win all of them,’” Pace said. “So that’s kind of his mindset. When the ball is in the air, he’s going to win it.”
The Bears went BPA with this pick and added competition to a deep WR group. The Bears’ WR group now consists of Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Riley Ridley, Cordarrelle Patterson, Marvin Hall, Javon Wims, and newly signed UDFA Emanuel Hall out of Missouri.
The Bears are adding as many weapons as they can for QB Mitchell Trubisky, as they added Montgomery on Friday, and Ridley on Saturday. Mitch Trubisky is in very good hands for the 2019 season.
After all, in a league that is becoming more passing oriented, you can never have too many good pass catchers.
Featured Image: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports
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