When Calvin Ridley took the field for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1 this year, it was the first time he played in an NFL game since October of 2021. He surprised many by putting up 101 receiving yards on eight catches, including a touchdown. Ridley put up another 100-yard game in Week 5, but in every other game, he has failed to surpass four catches or 40 yards receiving.

The Jacksonville wideout is coming off his most disappointing game of the season, recording just one catch for five yards in a Week 7 win over the New Orleans Saints. These inconsistent performances have confounded the fantasy football value of a player taken in the early rounds of drafts in most PPR leagues. After this latest poor showing, this is the painful fantasy football truth about Calvin Ridley.

Jaguars, Calvin Ridley

Two years out of the game

Calvin Ridley stepped away from the Atlanta Falcons during the 2021 NFL season due to mental health reasons. After the season finished, the NFL announced that Ridley was suspended indefinitely through at least the entire 2022 campaign for regularly betting on NFL games, including matchups featuring the Falcons. In November of 2022, Atlanta traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for conditional 2023 sixth-round and 2024 fourth-round picks. The 2023 pick becomes a fifth-rounder since Ridley was reinstated, and the 2024 pick can become either a third or second-round pick based on playing time or if Ridley signs an extension with Jacksonville.

Ridley applied for reinstation after the 2022 season, which the league granted, and he began the 2023 season as the number-one receiver on the Jaguars depth chart. In his final full season with Atlanta in 2020, Ridley was Second-Team All-Pro, totaling 1,374 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Two years out of the game, three seasons since he was an elite receiver; it is unrealistic to expect him to provide All-Pro numbers right off the bat. Given his time off, Ridley has performed well on the field, however, fantasy football owners overvalued him based on his past production.

Competition for catches

It has become clear during Trevor Lawrence's three years in Jacksonville that the franchise QB does not show favoritism with his wide receivers. Christian Kirk was a 1,000-yard receiver last year, but Zay Jones was right behind him with 121 targets to Kirk's 133. This year has been no different.

Kirk again leads the way with 55 targets, but right behind him is tight end Evan Engram with 51 targets and Calvin Ridley in a nearby third with 48. This trio accounts for nearly 65% of Trevor Lawrence's targets, but the even distribution provides frustration for fantasy football owners. The most consistent player among these three pass-catchers is actually Evan Engram, who, despite not earning a touchdown yet, has at least four catches in every contest this year. A high-floor, low-ceiling player, Engram has at least nine fantasy points in all but one game.

In terms of wide receivers, Christian Kirk has been the profitable fantasy option. The sixth-year man is averaging 14.7 fantasy points per week and has surpassed 13 fantasy points in every game except Week 1 — a single-catch anomaly bringing down his overall average. As for Ridley, while he is comparable with these two for targets, his low catch percentage has made him far less productive. Ridley has caught just 56.3% of balls thrown his way this season, far below the 70.9% rate for Christian Kirk and the impressive 80.4% mark held by Engram. Only Zay Jones has a lower catch rate among Jaguars players with 10-plus targets.

On the season, Calvin Ridley has two games with 20-plus fantasy points but also has four contests with seven or fewer fantasy points. This level of boom or bust production makes it difficult to trust the Jaguars wideout moving forward.