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As the Falcons continue to stumble through 2020, the Dirty Birds have few positives to take away. Calvin Ridley is one of the few positives for Atlanta so far.
Since entering the league in 2018, Ridley has appeared destined for a breakout and is on pace to finally reach that 1000 yard threshold, which proved elusive last season.
The third year man out of Alabama has enjoyed a superb start to the season catching a strong 21 receptions for 349 yards and four touchdowns, Ridley is among the top six in the league in all three categories.
Ridley is simply picking up where he left off. Despite only entering his third year, Ridley has already proved he can find the end zone consistently, scoring 17 touchdowns in his first two years.
Calvin Ridley reaching the next step
Now, he’s out to prove he can reach that 1,000 yard mark. This was a feat that he was on pace to achieve in 2019 before missing the final three games due to injury sustained in week 14 against Carolina.
Ridley is also continuing the trend of Atlanta successfully finding superstar receivers in the NFL draft, following on in the footsteps of Roddy White and his current mentor and teammate Julio Jones.
White entered the league in 2005, was a multi-time Pro-Bowler and holds a number of Falcons receiving records. Julio has arguably been the best receiver in the league for a number of years and now Ridley appears destined to follow in their footsteps.
Ridley following in the Atlanta wideout tradition
Despite the Falcons current struggles, they arguably have the best model of wide receiver development in the NFL. Jones entered the league in 2011 with massive expectations after General Manager Thomas Dimitroff sent a cache of draft picks to Cleveland for the sixth overall pick.
Jones had the benefit of learning from veteran receiver Roddy White, who was also considered among the top wideouts in the league at the time. The multi-time Pro-Bowler admitted that experience helped him massively.
Now, Julio is relishing the opportunity to transfer his knowledge to his protégé. If Jones can shorten Ridley’s learning curve and impart lessons it took him eight years to learn, that will not only benefit Ridley but the entire team and the future of the franchise when Julio is long gone.
White passed the torch on to Jones, and it’s Ridley who looks poised to become an elite player. The Falcons have enjoyed having two top tier receivers for the last decade and that will seemingly continue with Jones appearing to have plenty of football left in him.
Nevertheless, even if Julio plays for as long as possible Ridley benefits from being able to play alongside a future Hall of Famer.
Ridley has gone from strength to strength and has consistently improved becoming arguably the best No.2 wideout in the NFL. Barring injury Ridley seems destined to break into the NFL’s elite wideout bracket.
