New England Patriots Could Use No. 23 Pick On Calvin Ridley, But Will He Be There?
The New England Patriots will host wider receiver Calvin Ridley from Alabama today according to Chat Sports with hopes he will be there when the Patriots pick at No. 23. However, with Ridley considered the top receiver in the 2018 draft class, there are no guarantees he will be available.
After the departures of Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola, the Patriots are rather thin at the receiver position. While they did manage to sign Jordan Matthews, pairing him with Chris Hogan will not make defenses take an extra day preparing for their aerial attack. Although Rob Gronkowski is slated to return, Tom Brady, despite false rumors of him retiring will need to find a speedy guy who can go over-the-top and make extra yards after the catch. This is why Ridley is considered the best.
[MarkAds]But drafting a receiver this early has not been the norm for Bill Belichick.
The issue that the New England Patriots may run into is that Ridley will possibly be gone by the time they pick. With teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Dallas Cowboys all in need of a great receiver, Ridley could easily be off the board. But still, the Patriots are showing that there is an element of their offense missing by inviting Ridley and hope other teams will take a gamble on Courtland Sutton instead of Ridley.
Calvin Ridley Is The Best Reciever In The 2018 NFL Draft
While at Alabama, Ridley caught 224 passes for 2781 yards and 19 touchdowns in three seasons. While great numbers, imagine how better they would have been had Alabama not been focused on the run for the past two seasons. If paired with Brady, Ridley could easily be up there with the likes of former Crimson Tide receivers such as Amari Cooper and Julio Jones.
The New England Patriots may be forced to differ from Belichick era and take a skill-position player early. However, they must hope that other teams go another route and leave Ridley on the board.
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Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
