Calvin Ridley is officially the #1 wide receiver (WR) for the Atlanta Falcons this season.
With star WR Julio Jones traded to the Tennessee Titans this past June, the Atlanta Falcon’s offense will now be centered around the 4th year WR and their first-round pick out of the University of Florida, tight-end (TE) Kyle Pitts.
Will WR Calvin Ridley be able to put up good numbers without WR Julio Jones on the team?
The Bullseye Fantasy Answer:
Yes, Ridley will be just fine without Jones.
This is because on days when Julio Jones was out during the 2020 season due to injury and Calvin Ridley stepped up as the teams WR1, Ridley averaged 11 targets (tgts), 7 receptions (rec), 109 yards (yds), and 0.71 TDs a game over a 7 game period. In general fantasy terms, this means Ridley was averaging 22.4 points a game in PPR leagues(Points Per Reception) and 15.2 points a game in Standard leagues (STND).
To put this in perspective, if Ridley would have kept this production line throughout the season, he would have finished the year as the #2 fantasy WR in PPR leagues behind Davantae Adams (25.6 points per game) and as the 3rd WR in Standard leagues behind Davantae Adams (17.4 points per game) and Tyreek Hill (16.1 points per game).
To give you an idea on how well Ridley did during Jones absence, here were his stats:
5 rec/13 tgts, 110 yds vs CHI = 16 PPR/ 11.0 STND
8 rec/10 tgts, 136 yds vs CAR = 21 PPR/ 13.6 STND
6 rec/9 tgts, 50 yds, 1TD vs LV = 17 PPR/ 11.0 STND
8 rec/12 tgts, 124 yds, 1 TD vs LAC = 26 PPR/ 18.4 STND
10 rec/14 tgts, 163 yds 1 TD vs TB =34 PPR/ 22.3 STND
5 rec/9 tgts, 130 yds, 2 TDs vs KC =30 PPR/ 25 STND
8 rec/12 tgts, 50 Yds vs TB 13 PPR/ 5 STND
As you can see these numbers were put up against some tough secondaries like the Buccaneers (6) and Chiefs (10) which were both top 10 secondaries according to PFF.com (Pro Football Focus).
If you have the opportunity I highly recommend drafting Calvin Ridley in Fantasy.
Right now, at his current Average Draft Position (ADP) of 2.06 (6th pick in the 2nd round) in 12 team PPR leagues, Ridley is exactly where he should be.
Calvin Ridley’s 2021 Fantasy Stat Prediction:
110 Receptions, 1,625 yds, 13 TDs
PPR Leagues: 20.6 points per game
Standard Leagues: 14.1 points per game
I’d rather draft Calvin Ridley over these Bign Name WRs (PPR and STND leagues):
WR DeAndre Hopkins
WR Keenan Allen
WR Mike Evans
WR Allen Robinson
If you have any questions or comments about this topic or others like it, feel free to message @bullseyefantasy on twitter or send an email to Bullseyefantasy1@gmail.com