I'm participating in another slow draft, and when my pick came up at the end of the fourth round, 45 players in, the highest-ranked player on my board was Calvin Ridley. I took him, as the 16th wide receiver selected (he's in our top 10 at the position), leaving me to wonder if Atlanta's No. 2 can finish with No. 1 production.
It's tough to do. Just looking at Atlanta over the last dozen years -- since Matt Ryan entered the league -- they've had a No. 2 wideout put up top-25 numbers four times. That includes Ridley finishing 20th among PPR wideouts two years ago, as a rookie. He was 27th in 2019; would have been better had he not missed the last three games with an injury. In the table, No. 2 wide receivers in each season are in bold.
| ATLANTA NO. 1-NO. 2 WIDE RECEIVERS, 2008-PRESENT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 2019 | Julio Jones | 15 | 157 | 99 | 1394 | 6 | 3 |
| 2019 | Calvin Ridley | 13 | 93 | 63 | 866 | 7 | 27 |
| 2018 | Julio Jones | 16 | 170 | 113 | 1677 | 8 | 3 |
| 2018 | Calvin Ridley | 16 | 92 | 64 | 821 | 10 | 20 |
| 2017 | Julio Jones | 16 | 148 | 88 | 1444 | 3 | 7 |
| 2017 | Mohamed Sanu | 15 | 96 | 67 | 703 | 5 | 29 |
| 2016 | Julio Jones | 14 | 129 | 83 | 1409 | 6 | 6 |
| 2016 | Mohamed Sanu | 15 | 81 | 59 | 653 | 4 | 51 |
| 2015 | Julio Jones | 16 | 203 | 136 | 1871 | 8 | 2 |
| 2015 | Roddy White | 16 | 70 | 43 | 506 | 1 | 73 |
| 2014 | Julio Jones | 15 | 163 | 104 | 1593 | 6 | 6 |
| 2014 | Roddy White | 14 | 125 | 80 | 921 | 7 | 21 |
| 2013 | Harry Douglas | 16 | 132 | 85 | 1067 | 2 | 23 |
| 2013 | Roddy White | 13 | 97 | 63 | 711 | 3 | 44 |
| 2012 | Roddy White | 16 | 142 | 92 | 1351 | 7 | 10 |
| 2012 | Julio Jones | 16 | 128 | 79 | 1198 | 10 | 11 |
| 2011 | Roddy White | 16 | 180 | 100 | 1296 | 8 | 5 |
| 2011 | Julio Jones | 13 | 95 | 54 | 959 | 8 | 21 |
| 2010 | Roddy White | 16 | 179 | 115 | 1389 | 10 | 1 |
| 2010 | Michael Jenkins | 11 | 73 | 41 | 505 | 2 | 70 |
| 2009 | Roddy White | 16 | 165 | 85 | 1153 | 11 | 9 |
| 2009 | Michael Jenkins | 15 | 90 | 50 | 635 | 1 | 62 |
| 2008 | Roddy White | 16 | 148 | 88 | 1382 | 7 | 4 |
| 2008 | Michael Jenkins | 16 | 81 | 50 | 777 | 3 | 41 |
Only once did Atlanta have a pair of top-12 wideouts: 2012, when Roddy White and Julio Jones turned the trick.
On behalf of Ridley, Atlanta often had a quality No. 3 wide receiver in a lot of those years: Mohamed Sanu the past couple, guys like Harry Douglas (who put up No. 1 numbers back in 2013, remarkably enough). And while we're high on Hayden Hurst, no one should compare him to Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, who soaked up top-3 looks in the offense for several years. And again, had he stayed healthy Ridley would have been top 20 in each of the last two seasons.
But I think it's fair to be a little apprehensive about Ridley putting up top-12 numbers. Probably about his ceiling, barring an injury to Julio Jones or something. I think where I selected him, 16th, should be about right.
--Andy Richardson