Calvin Ridley hasn’t put up video game numbers in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense through eight games like many expected, but that doesn’t mean he’s had a limited impact.
There were examples throughout the Jaguars’ 2023 season of Ridley’s simple presence single-handedly helping the Jaguars offense even when he wasn’t getting the ball.
The best to date came in Week 8 in the Jaguars’ 20-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While Ridley finished the game with six catches for 83 yards, his biggest impact came in the third quarter on a play where he wasn’t even targeted.
With 5:14 remaining in the third quarter and the Jaguars leading just 9-3 after three turnovers, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected with running back Travis Etienne on a 56-yard touchdown pass – a pass made possible by the Steelers defense’s commitment to Ridley.
“They played Cover 2. The corner jumped out, Calvin at No. 2, the corner jumped that. Travis was rolling down the sideline. The safety, instead of getting high over the top, he drove as well. I think he thought I was throwing it to Calvin,” Lawrence said after the game.
“I don’t know if we ever threw the ball to that running back.” “This is not the first player, it’s more like a quick pass when the ball is about to escape him and a real pass, what we call, a double pass. Two short routes, the corner is covered in clouds, the corner jumps to Calvin [Ridley] where they think the ball is going and the safety has a little flatter angle,” Pederson said. , it was a great read by Trevor. To throw it over the safety trying to jump and release the ball and let Travis catch it. Just a good game between these two, Travis is not the main game. We didn’t throw a lot of the ball with Etienne, but just great play from these two.
So while Ridley doesn’t come close to leading the league in any statistical category, he is making an impact with his mere presence, commanding the attention of defensemen Overpower your opponent week after week. “At the start of that game, he was the one taking the kickoffs for us. Evan [Engram] did the same thing and the attention was on Calvin from the get-go, so I think that’s where they thought the ball was going,” Pederson said.
