2023 Fantasy Football Player Profile: Calvin Ridley still has top-5 WR upside

• Calvin Ridley returns after a long absence: Ridley stepped away from the game in 2021 and was suspended for all of 2022, but he is back healthy and ready for a fresh start.
• Ridley has a top-five upside: When we last saw Ridley, he was coming off a top-five fantasy season despite playing through an injury.
• Trevor Lawrence’s development will be key: Lawrence was the second-highest graded quarterback last season under the age of 25, and his progress from Years 2 to 3 will determine Ridley’s ceiling.

Estimated reading time: 5minutes

The fantasy football outlook series takes an in-depth look at a single player’s fantasy outlook for the 2023 season.

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Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, August 1

Calvin Ridley‘s player outlook

Ridley has been one of the best wide receivers in the NFL since being drafted in 2018.

• He wasn’t an immediate starter with the Atlanta Falcons, but it didn’t take him long to contribute.
• In his third NFL game, he caught seven passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
• Despite a few excellent games, he didn’t become a regular starter or surpass 75% of offensive snaps until his second season.
• He improved each of his first few seasons based on PFF grade, and by 2020, he averaged 18.8 PPR points per game, ranking fourth among wide receivers. He accomplished this despite playing with a broken foot.
• Ridley ranked top 10 in receptions over the first four weeks of 2021 in his first season without Julio Jones. He then stepped away from the game for mental health reasons and missed all of 2022 due to a suspension for gambling. The Jacksonville Jaguars traded for him during the suspension knowing he’d be back for 2023.
• He’s averaged 5.1 receptions and 68.2 yards per game in his career, both ranking 14th out of 139 wide receivers with at least 40 games. He did this despite playing on a limited playing snap count early in his career.
• His ability to catch touchdowns is where he shines. He averaged 0.57 receiving touchdowns per game, which ranked seventh, leading to 0.43 receiving PPR pos per route (12th).
• Ridley is now in a better spot mentally according to his Players’ Tribune must-read article from March.
• He has been the talk of Jaguars training camp so far and reportedly hasn’t lost a step.