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Bears Draft Riley Ridley WR Georgia


Bigbear72

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This was a must pick.

With limited resources you have to try and steal some value, even if it does not fill an obvious need.

Ridley was a 2nd or 3rd round talent that the Bears were able to get in the late 4th round. That is like having an extra 3rd round pick in a year when you are so light on resources.

I think he will be WR 4 and provides depth and perhaps a long term, cheap, outside WR.

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10 hours ago, Sugashane said:

I like that he really keeps his speed in his cuts, just a really smooth route runner and doesn't let the ball into his body. Super competitive. IDK why he reminds me of Chad Johnson so much when I watch him, but that is exactly who I think of.

Bingo.....even lacking top end speed to pull away he knows how to separate and how to set a CB to bite on a move or influence his leverage with his initial moves.  He can turn his coverage one way by selling him on one route then make his cut and break free on another.

Scouting report says his burst and/or acceleration is only fair but in a simultaneous shot of he and Calvin running the 40 they're neck and neck over the first 20 yards then Calvin pulls away.  But given their builds I'd expect that.  So he's not a pure deep threat.....so what?

I think Furrey is gonna love this kid's discipline as much as Miller's initial lack of it frustrated him.  He's very polished already with great hands and body control.  I don't see anyway he's not gonna become a very good possession guy who can play both at "Z" and "Y".

IMHO we got a very good football player who could easily have gone much higher.

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14 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

Nagy said inside receiver is too hard to learn for rookies (even though Miller just did it) so he is staring Ridley on outside.

 

Generally I would agree as most rookies aren't polished route runners or only run a few routes really well. Miller and Ridley are two pretty obvious exceptions. I imagine they will be able to both play inside and outside by midseason, and the only reason I say that is because it is Ridley's first year in Nagy's complex system. A lot of information to absorb.

 

 

 

 

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Riley Ridley explains how he's different from Calvin Ridley

ByMatt Eurich 10 hours ago
 
 

The Chicago Bears were ecstatic they were able to select Georgia wide receiver Riley Ridley in the fourth round of this year's NFL Draft. Some analysts projected Ridley to go as high as the second round. He will now join a competitive wide receiver room in Chicago led by the likes of Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller and Cordarrelle Patterson.

Ridley will have to carve out a name for himself in Chicagosomething he has had to do his whole life. His older brother, Calvin Ridley, was selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. When working out at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year, Riley Ridley explained how he is different from his brother.

“My brother is a shifty guy, (but) I have a little more body on him, I use my body in the game,” Ridley said at the time, via Mike Griffith of DawgNation.com. “I go up for contested grabs, but other than that, we’re similar. We like to run routes, and we critique ourselves on running routes.”

That route-running ability is something the Bears noted they like about Ridley's game.

"There are a lot of traits we like about this player," general manager Ryan Pace said after the draft. "Obviously his size, his hands, his catching radius, his ability to win contested battles, his route running... Truly, by far, the best player on our board and very excited to select him."

Both Ridley brothers share similar traits. Calvin entered the 2018 NFL Draft having measured out at 6'1" and 189 pounds with 31 5/8" arms. Young brother Riley measured in at 6'1", 199 pounds with 32 5/8" arms. 

The elder Ridley had the better NFL Scouting Combine numbers by running a 4.43-second 40-yard dash with a 6.88-second three-cone drill and 4.41-second 20-yard shuttle. Riley Ridley ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash with a 7.22-second three-cone drill and a 4.28-second 20-yard shuttle. The pair are both good route-runners, but Calvin Ridley is more of a finesse player who gets in and out of his breaks rather seamlessly. 

Riley Ridley is a more physical receiver who is not afraid to use his size to his advantage. Calvin Ridley is far better with the football in his hands, while Riley Ridley is better at going up and getting the football.

The younger Ridley recorded just 26 catches in his first two years at Georgia before finding a more defined role in his final season. Ridley ended the year with 559 receiving yards on 43 receptions with nine rushing touchdowns. His numbers are not among the most impressive in this draft class, but he played in a run-heavy Georgia offense that had a lot of different weapons.

Riley Ridley may not have the flashiness and speed that his older brother has, but his physicality and ability to go up and get the football will be a welcomed addition in Chicago.

Edited by soulman
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12 hours ago, Sugashane said:

Generally I would agree as most rookies aren't polished route runners or only run a few routes really well. Miller and Ridley are two pretty obvious exceptions. I imagine they will be able to both play inside and outside by midseason, and the only reason I say that is because it is Ridley's first year in Nagy's complex system. A lot of information to absorb.

 

 

 

 

Remember last season as well when part way through Nagy started admitting that they threw too much at Miller by asking him to play inside so early and having him learn so many different routes? I think they'll have learned their lesson from that and we'll see Ridley mostly on the outside in 2019.

Miller I think with it being year two will be inside and outside but I think they'll ease Ridley in.

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1 minute ago, RJ_11 said:

Remember last season as well when part way through Nagy started admitting that they threw too much at Miller by asking him to play inside so early and having him learn so many different routes? I think they'll have learned their lesson from that and we'll see Ridley mostly on the outside in 2019.

Miller I think with it being year two will be inside and outside but I think they'll ease Ridley in.

Same here. What I mean is they will ease him into it, he will likely be the primary back up for Miller in the slot by midseason.


Miller's offense at Memphis was a college spread scheme with a lot of predetermined throws and reads. While Georgia doesn't run a true pro-style offense like Bama has for almost all of Saban's tenure, they still run a lot more pro concepts and more complex routes than Memphis IMO. They did a lot more grouping and packages to force defenses to adjust, so he has had to learn quite a bit more in his time than Miller did IMO. So I am assuming that between that and the rest of the team already knowing the offense to help him (rather than all learning at the same time) that he will be able to learn the scheme faster than Miller did.

I may be looking too far into it though, IDK.

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1 hour ago, Sugashane said:

Same here. What I mean is they will ease him into it, he will likely be the primary back up for Miller in the slot by midseason.


Miller's offense at Memphis was a college spread scheme with a lot of predetermined throws and reads. While Georgia doesn't run a true pro-style offense like Bama has for almost all of Saban's tenure, they still run a lot more pro concepts and more complex routes than Memphis IMO. They did a lot more grouping and packages to force defenses to adjust, so he has had to learn quite a bit more in his time than Miller did IMO. So I am assuming that between that and the rest of the team already knowing the offense to help him (rather than all learning at the same time) that he will be able to learn the scheme faster than Miller did.

I may be looking too far into it though, IDK.

Yeah I hadn't looked in to the concepts their college teams run to be fair haha, just going off the coaching staff's comments about Miller last year and wondering if they'll adjust their approach. I hope you're right because we've only really got Miller to play the slot now. With them drafting a WR similar to Miller (great route running, great hands) in Ridley it makes sense that they'd look at giving them similar roles in the offense eventually.

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18 hours ago, dll2000 said:

Nagy said inside receiver is too hard to learn for rookies (even though Miller just did it) so he is staring Ridley on outside.

 

People make some good points.  Perhaps Nagy is saying that because Miller struggled to pick it up right away.  We don't know how many mistakes these guys made.

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