Nicknamed The Ridler
Cause even our qb can't figure out his route running

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We kinda knew he’d be rusty but this goes beyond that. He’s made some great plays but a lot of the time just seems disinterested. The search for a No. 1 will continue next year.

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I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you. 
Check out the Jag's Forum Alternative: Duval Football Fans.

You can't use the "he's still rusty" excuse anymore.

It's week 15.

I don't think it's rust. I think it's a lot more complicated and complex than just saying "Chopper, sick balls" or "Sick em' boy!" and he just goes and gets it done out there on a weekly basis. This has been an interesting offense all year. 

We've had a lot of inconsistencies, we've had a poor showing for the 2nd year in a row now with this offensive line unit, we're not getting the running game going and we've seen a lot of injuries hit the WR room now. Zay Jones got hurt, Jamal Agnew got hurt, now Christian Kirk is hurt. 

Not sure what all has been asked out of Ridley in this offense. Some people will say we're not moving him around enough or using him around the field enough like other quality offenses do with their best receiver on the football field. 

My biggest thing I'll keep going back to, is, who are you replacing him with in 2024? Whether it's with that 2nd RD pick or another free agency target? And, is it worth it? I know Tee Higgins' name keeps coming up. Again, I get the Lawrence to Higgins connection at Clemson. But, we're looking for a #1 WR, and that's not Higgins. Higgins benefits from having a true #1 in Chase. 

So, there's just a ton of things to consider and the good thing is that there's plenty of football left for a lot of this to be put to rest for good. We'll see soon enough.

Based on his play this year, will it really be that difficult to replace him?

This draft is loaded with WR talent. 

I would also be calling the Commanders about McLaurin, Raiders about Adams, Fins about Waddle, and Saints about Olave. Just to get a feel. Those are actual #1s. Adams is obviously much older than the other dudes but he is still elite and Raiders look to be in a rebuild.

But giving up draft capital and money to take a chance on a 30 year old receiver getting back to his elite form? Not sure I’m willing to do that.

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He can still redeem himself here if he decides to, but it’s almost like Atlanta knew him best and was willing to trade him and structured the deal accordingly. Color me shocked.

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Ridley gonna have a big game against the Ravens

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No to Ridley. Save that money and draft pick and invest it in a couple of O linemen. Weve got enough young WR talent that we can develop and will do just fine if we get Trevor more time to throw.

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"Remember Red, Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."  - Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption

I don't think it's rust. I think it's a lot more complicated and complex than just saying "Chopper, sick balls" or "Sick em' boy!" and he just goes and gets it done out there on a weekly basis. This has been an interesting offense all year. 

We've had a lot of inconsistencies, we've had a poor showing for the 2nd year in a row now with this offensive line unit, we're not getting the running game going and we've seen a lot of injuries hit the WR room now. Zay Jones got hurt, Jamal Agnew got hurt, now Christian Kirk is hurt. 

Not sure what all has been asked out of Ridley in this offense. Some people will say we're not moving him around enough or using him around the field enough like other quality offenses do with their best receiver on the football field. 

My biggest thing I'll keep going back to, is, who are you replacing him with in 2024? Whether it's with that 2nd RD pick or another free agency target? And, is it worth it? I know Tee Higgins' name keeps coming up. Again, I get the Lawrence to Higgins connection at Clemson. But, we're looking for a #1 WR, and that's not Higgins. Higgins benefits from having a true #1 in Chase. 

So, there's just a ton of things to consider and the good thing is that there's plenty of football left for a lot of this to be put to rest for good. We'll see soon enough.

Based on his play this year, will it really be that difficult to replace him?

This draft is loaded with WR talent. 

I would also be calling the Commanders about McLaurin, Raiders about Adams, Fins about Waddle, and Saints about Olave. Just to get a feel. Those are actual #1s. Adams is obviously much older than the other dudes but he is still elite and Raiders look to be in a rebuild.

But giving up draft capital and money to take a chance on a 30 year old receiver getting back to his elite form? Not sure I’m willing to do that.

Doesn't matter how much talent at WR the incoming draft class has, you still have to remember who the GM is.

Baalke can't draft WRs to save his life. Dude has been god awful at drafting WRs over his history.

I also don't see a rookie WR coming in here and duplicating what Ridley has done so far. Through 13 games, Ridley has 55 catches, 742 yards and 5 TD. Pretty sure he also leads the league in drawing DPI calls as well.

Do we really expect a rookie to come in and go for at least 65+ catches, nearly 1k or so yards and say 6 or 7 TDs? Sounds like we're setting up for expectation failure imo.

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Based on his play this year, will it really be that difficult to replace him?

This draft is loaded with WR talent. 

I would also be calling the Commanders about McLaurin, Raiders about Adams, Fins about Waddle, and Saints about Olave. Just to get a feel. Those are actual #1s. Adams is obviously much older than the other dudes but he is still elite and Raiders look to be in a rebuild.

But giving up draft capital and money to take a chance on a 30 year old receiver getting back to his elite form? Not sure I’m willing to do that.

Doesn't matter how much talent at WR the incoming draft class has, you still have to remember who the GM is.

Baalke can't draft WRs to save his life. Dude has been god awful at drafting WRs over his history.

I also don't see a rookie WR coming in here and duplicating what Ridley has done so far. Through 13 games, Ridley has 55 catches, 742 yards and 5 TD. Pretty sure he also leads the league in drawing DPI calls as well.

Do we really expect a rookie to come in and go for at least 65+ catches, nearly 1k or so yards and say 6 or 7 TDs? Sounds like we're setting up for expectation failure imo.

Exactly. Plug and play sounds a lot easier on paper, but in practice? It's not. I also think the obvious issues to our problems are literally front and center and staring right at us down the middle, on both sides of the football. 

Fix those issues up front and the odds of this offense flourishing further with Lawrence's abilities goes through the roof. Funny enough, all of those big names listed above? None of them have ever won the big game. 

You're also forking over draft picks, probably more than a 2nd RD pick, in addition to inheriting a big salary cap figure or potential contract extension that needs to be resolved.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

The offense hasn’t clicked consistently or reached its potential. Hopefully that happens down the stretch including Ridley.

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Based on his play this year, will it really be that difficult to replace him?

This draft is loaded with WR talent. 

I would also be calling the Commanders about McLaurin, Raiders about Adams, Fins about Waddle, and Saints about Olave. Just to get a feel. Those are actual #1s. Adams is obviously much older than the other dudes but he is still elite and Raiders look to be in a rebuild.

But giving up draft capital and money to take a chance on a 30 year old receiver getting back to his elite form? Not sure I’m willing to do that.

Doesn't matter how much talent at WR the incoming draft class has, you still have to remember who the GM is.

Baalke can't draft WRs to save his life. Dude has been god awful at drafting WRs over his history.

I also don't see a rookie WR coming in here and duplicating what Ridley has done so far. Through 13 games, Ridley has 55 catches, 742 yards and 5 TD. Pretty sure he also leads the league in drawing DPI calls as well.

Do we really expect a rookie to come in and go for at least 65+ catches, nearly 1k or so yards and say 6 or 7 TDs? Sounds like we're setting up for expectation failure imo.

Rashee Rice essentially has the numbers right now.

And this upcoming draft class is very good. Definitely better than the rookie class this year.

I don’t know what’s the right move here and a lot will depend on the last 4 (hopefully more) games the Jags have left.

Ridley just isn’t consistent enough and is still making rookie/week 1 mistakes. With Trevor, I do think a rookie can do what Ridley is doing. They also would have a much lower cap figure.

I hope Ridley turns it on here in the last month because the Jags need him to be great.

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Doesn't matter how much talent at WR the incoming draft class has, you still have to remember who the GM is.

Baalke can't draft WRs to save his life. Dude has been god awful at drafting WRs over his history.

I also don't see a rookie WR coming in here and duplicating what Ridley has done so far. Through 13 games, Ridley has 55 catches, 742 yards and 5 TD. Pretty sure he also leads the league in drawing DPI calls as well.

Do we really expect a rookie to come in and go for at least 65+ catches, nearly 1k or so yards and say 6 or 7 TDs? Sounds like we're setting up for expectation failure imo.

Exactly. Plug and play sounds a lot easier on paper, but in practice? It's not. I also think the obvious issues to our problems are literally front and center and staring right at us down the middle, on both sides of the football. 

Fix those issues up front and the odds of this offense flourishing further with Lawrence's abilities goes through the roof. Funny enough, all of those big names listed above? None of them have ever won the big game. 

You're also forking over draft picks, probably more than a 2nd RD pick, in addition to inheriting a big salary cap figure or potential contract extension that needs to be resolved.

So now because those big name WRs haven’t won the big game they’re bad? You wouldn’t take Jefferson or Lamb or Chase on this team? Is it McLaurins fault he’s played with bums his whole life?

Can’t blame team failures on a single player.

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No to Ridley. Save that money and draft pick and invest it in a couple of O linemen.  Weve got enough young WR talent that we can develop and will do just fine if we get Trevor more time to throw.

Barring a dramatic change in Ridley's play, this is my thinking as well.  Big money for Ridley vs spending on Oline and young WR.  I think the latter helps us more than the former.

Said before, maybe earlier this thread, that I think Engram, Kirk, and Zones are a really good top three receiving group.  But we lack a guy that has the speed to scare a defense.  Get a young guy with speed and I think that opens up the offense more than what Ridley is giving us currently.

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Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

After looking at the list of 2024 receivers entering the draft, my opinion about Ridley has almost totally changed. The depth at this position would enable the Jaguars to find an excellent replacement in the first 2 rounds of the draft and possibly even in round 3. If someone like Xavier Leggett was there in round 1, it would be tempting to take him despite the need for help on both lines. Or they could wait until round 2, Adonei Mitchell or Tony Franklin would be immediate starters. Would I still consider re-signing Ridley? If Pederson and Baalke are not at all concerned about his attitude and effort and he would take a team-friendly deal due to his disappointing 2023 season, I wouldn't totally rule it out. The thought of past receivers like Soward, Blackmon and Matt Jones gives me great pause. All had great talent like Ridley, but had other "issues" which never allowed them to reach their elite potential.

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To me, personally, he’s been pretty much a disappointment except for a couple of games.  At this point, I let him walk unless he lights it up the rest of the way.

I think, by far, Kirk is our most important WR.

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Yeah I would feel comfortable letting him walk.
He’s not worth losing a draft pick over. If it was a 5th or 6th, maybe

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Yeah I would feel comfortable letting him walk.
He’s not worth losing a draft pick over. If it was a 5th or 6th, maybe

Yes because the jags will draft someone better than Ridley easy like they always do.

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Yeah I would feel comfortable letting him walk.
He’s not worth losing a draft pick over. If it was a 5th or 6th, maybe

Yes because the jags will draft someone better than Ridley easy like they always do.

I actually don’t think he’s been an asset. I don’t think our WR core is better this year than last year.

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Off season will take care of this stuff. In season he needs to play better. We have seen enough crappy play to know we aren't reaching our potential but we remain capable.

Rumors are rhe cap is going to blow up this off season so real cash on hand is going to be what matters.

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Birth of the Franchise - November 30, 1993
Death of the Franchise - November 29, 2011

Fans deserve better. Thanks for all the good times too many are in the past.

IIRC there's a neighborhood on the Westside near Fouraker called Lackawanna. Ridley needs to move out of that part of town.

I can't remember when exactly nor his exact words but didn't he recently say something along the lines of he didn't really care about winning or losing just about how well he played. It reminds me of what Woody Harrelson's character told Wesley Snipe's character in White Men Can't Jump "you'd rather lose and look good than win and not get noticed."

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I'm old enough to remember going many years without a receiver worth mentioning.
We had to be content championing players like Cecil Shorts, Mike Thomas, and Mike Sims-Walker - with literally nobody behind them on the depth chart.

So - I don't subscribe to the idea that you can easily replace 970 yards and 7 TDs with a rookie second rounder.
You've probably got a one in four chance of hitting on that pick and their rookie season will likely still come up short of that.

So the question is:
Is his head right?
Can he be reeled in enough to string together some consistent route precision?
Can he do enough to make them confident in that over the next 4 -6 weeks?

If so, then you have to take advantage of his not-so-world-class return to football and try to get him on the cheap to a 3 year deal with a 2 year out clause. There may not be a ton of competition to sign a guy with his 2023 roller coaster return.

If not, move on.

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IIRC there's a neighborhood on the Westside near Fouraker called Lackawanna.  Ridley needs to move out of that part of town. 

I can't remember when exactly nor his exact words but didn't he recently say something along the lines of he didn't really care about winning or losing just about how well he played.  It reminds me of what Woody Harrelson's character told Wesley Snipe's character in White Men Can't Jump "you'd rather lose and look good than win and not get noticed."

He literally said the opposite.

He said he didn't care about his stats - only winning.

Man - funny joke to kick that off there -  but big swing and miss to follow it up. 
The dude may be a bit of a head case and wear emotion on his sleeve a bit too much when things don't go his way - but let's not completely mischaracterize his actual words.

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