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Calvin Ridley can make up serious ground on Bama’s all-time receiving list in ’16
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Entering 2015, there were four receivers in Alabama history that reached the 1,000-yard milestone in a single season.
This time last year Amari Cooper, arguably the greatest receiver in team history, was on his way to the Oakland Raiders as an NFL rookie. Calvin Ridley was listed as a 6-foot, 170-pound high school senior. Alabama was launching spring practice needing to find a first-year starting quarterback.
By October, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin trusted him enough that Ridley racked up 100-yard games against the likes of Georgia (in Athens), Florida (in Atlanta) and Michigan State (in Arlington, Texas), three ranked teams with respected defenses.
His final freshman numbers — 89 catches for 1,045 yards and 7 touchdowns — ranked first, second and fifth in the entire SEC, respectively.
Ridley enters spring practice as the team’s No. 1 offensive option. Perhaps Bo Scarbrough will prove to be a Derrick Henry clone and overtake him. Perhaps Blake Barnett or Cooper Bateman will fail to equal Jake Coker’s 2015 season. Perhaps Ridley won’t benefit from an extra three postseason games.
Another 1,000-yard season is a lot to ask of Ridley. Partially due to an injury, Cooper’s sophomore season was a certifiable slump. The former Bama standout also reached 1,000 yards as a freshman only to dip to 736 the next year.
Then again, Kiffin has been known to force-feed his No. 1 offensive option, especially at receiver. Check out Cooper’s stats in 2014, or the numbers for some of his USC receivers. And look at how Alabama used Henry at running back last year.
It’s possible that after just his second season, Ridley will pass Ozzie Newsome and move into fourth on Alabama’s all-time receiving list. It’s likely he’ll move into the top 5 (he needs 818 yards) and almost guaranteed he’ll move into the top 10 (he needs 523 yards).
ALABAMA’S ALL-TIME LEADERS IN CAREER RECEIVING YARDS
| PLAYER | CAREER YDS. | YEARS |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Amari Cooper | 3,463 | 2012-14 |
| 2. D.J. Hall | 2,923 | 2004-07 |
| 3. Julio Jones | 2,653 | 2008-10 |
| 4. Ozzie Newsome | 2,070 | 1974-77 |
| 5. Keith Brown | 1,863 | 2004-07 |
| 6. Freddie Milons | 1,859 | 1998-01 |
| 7. David Bailey | 1,857 | 1969-71 |
| 8. Marquis Maze | 1,844 | 2008-11 |
| 9. David Palmer | 1,611 | 1991-93 |
| 10. Curtis Brown | 1,568 | 1991-95 |
The most exciting development last season was Alabama’s occasional use of Ridley as a deep threat. For a large part of the season, the Tide was content to get Ridley the ball on the perimeter on short, quick passes and let him run.
ArDarius Stewart and Richard Mullaney proved to be adept blockers and the smoke screen to Ridley almost served as another kind of running play.
His per-catch numbers got a big boost when the team started trusting him to go up and get passes downfield in 1-on-1 coverage.
https://vine.co/v/e9bUtD0BEaT
Bruh Was Everything In Da Cotton Bowl Bih.. Ran Off On Da Plug Twice ??? @CalvinRidley1 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/juXfyXGpMS
— Plies (@plies) January 1, 2016
Here are his per-catch averages by month:
September: 7.4 yards per catch
October: 14.3 yards per catch
November/December/January: 11.8 yards per catch.
During the national championship game, Ridley was ineffective. Clemson did a great job of game planning to take him away, part of the reason that O.J. Howard had such a big game. Also, Alabama seemed content to revert back to short pass attempts to Ridley against a stingy Tigers secondary. In that game, Ridley caught six passes for 14 yards.
Aside from that, he averaged 13.2 yards per catch November to January.
If Alabama continues to trust Ridley as a downfield option in addition to going to him with screens, he should have ample opportunities to rack up both yards and catches.
Let’s say he catches just 75 passes in 2016, but raises his per-catch average to 13.0, which seems more than reasonable. That’s 975 yards, which would put him fifth on the all-time list.
Anything better than that and as a junior in 2017, Ridley will have a genuine shot at besting Cooper’s 3,463 career yards. That’s looking ahead. But based on what he did last year, it’s plausible to picture Ridley joining the likes of Cooper and Julio Jones in the pantheon of all-time Bama greats by the time he leaves Tuscaloosa.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
