With just under two months until the start of the NFL regular season, fantasy football mock drafts are in full swing and the Tennessee Titans ' newly acquired wide receiver Calvin Ridley could be a real bargain.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report released his list of the best fantasy football value players for each NFL team and selected Ridley for the Titans.
“Ridley's lone season with the Jacksonville Jaguars was a relative success. The 29-year-old recorded 75 catches for over 1,000 yards and scored eight times while ranking as a top-20 fantasy WR in PPR points. If Will Revis can prove at all effective as Tennessee's quarterback, Ridley and battery-mate DeAndre Hopkins could have fantasy value in 2024,” Davenport wrote.
Ridley has had an up-and-down career but started well with the Atlanta Falcons, hauling in 64 receptions for 821 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie, 63 receptions for 866 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore and 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns the following year.
He began the 2021 season somewhat struggling with just 31 receptions for 281 yards and two touchdowns through the first five games, and decided to step away from football on Oct. 21 to focus on his mental health.
Ridley did not return that season, and an investigation on March 7, 2022, found that he had bet on NFL games over a five-day period during the season he was without the team. He was suspended indefinitely, but will be suspended for at least the entire 2022 season.
The Falcons could trade Ridley, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, to the Jacksonville Jaguars at the 2022 trade deadline.
Ridley could return to the NFL on March 6, 2023, and play the 2023 season with the Jaguars under a potential new contract.
He quietly and impressively recorded 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns for the Jaguars, but was not re-signed in order to avoid the Jaguars sending their 2024 second-round draft pick to the Falcons as part of the initial trade.
After the Titans offered Ridley a four-year, $92 million contract in the offseason, he now finds himself with a team starting fresh, with a young quarterback in Will Revis and a great offensive system under new head coach Brian Callahan.
In fantasy football drafts thus far, Ridley has been ranked as the 36th WR on average, meaning draftees would rather have a 35th wide receiver than Ridley, who had 76 catches for over 1,000 yards with the Jaguars, which seems like a bargain.
He'll share targets with receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Tyler Boyd, tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo and pass-catching backs Tony Pollard and Tyjay Spears, but Ridley is listed as the Titans' WR1 by ESPN and his fantasy football value is immense, especially at the WR36 spot.
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