Calvin Ridley

I banged the drum for Ridley all offseason, saying he was the most pro-ready receiver in the draft. When he was taken by the Falcons, it was tough to love the landing spot, as Julio Jones demands a lot of targets. With that, Ridley will see a lot of No. 2 cornerbacks in man coverage, meaning he's going to have some big weeks. Think about Taylor Gabriel's effect he had on the Falcons offense in his first year there and that's likely what you'll get out of Ridley in 2018. He's just a WR4/5, but he's going to have some massive weeks.

Calvin Ridley has a strong showing in first NFL minicamp

In his '10 things we learned from Falcons' minicamp' article, D. Orlando Ledbetter wrote that rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley ran excellent routes from both the slot and outside and made a strong impression in Atlanta's OTAs and minicamp.

Fantasy Impact

Ridley's route-running at Alabama was among the best in the nation but him taking snaps in the slot is noteworthy as expectations are that Ridley will start opposite of Julio Jones in the spot vacated by Taylor Gabriel's departure. Steve Sarkisian will move his receivers all around the formation to exploit matchups, so Ridley getting snaps inside will only help his development. If Ridley can learn to break press coverage and use his superb route-running to get open as a rookie, he could be in a position to be on the WR3/flex radar sooner rather than later.