SEC Football: Buy or Sell Calvin Ridley as Heisman Candidate
Calvin Ridley is one of 5 SEC football players to make the early betting odds list for Heisman Trophy; we discuss whether you should buy or sell.
5 SEC football players made Bovada’s list of players they were willing to put odds on to win the Heisman Trophy. Unsurprisingly, Deshaun Watson leads that group and is closely followed by Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette.
Related: 5 SEC Football Players Make Heisman Betting Odds List
If you continue scrolling down the list, you see 4 more SEC football players make the list. We’ll start from the bottom and work our way back to Fournette. At the bottom of the list and tied with Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs with +1600 odds is Calvin Ridley.
Buy:
Alabama will be breaking in a new quarterback for the third straight year but Lane Kiffin has a track record that shows that should not be a concern at all. Ridley will also likely be the focal point of the offense now that Derrick Henry is moving on to the NFL.
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SEC football is the toughest conference in the nation and the SEC West is the toughest division. Ridley was able to put up 1,045 yards and 7 touchdowns in his freshman campaign, explaining why he is the only wide receiver to be getting national recognition in the early Heisman candidate rundowns.
Calvin Ridley had four games in which he went over 100 yards and two other close calls with 90 yards against Auburn and 88 against Tennessee. With Kiffin showing he is a quarterback whisperer and Ridley likely to take on an Amari Cooper type role this year, he is a strong candidate to get Heisman recognition.
Sell:
It wasn’t until 2007 that a sophomore was able to win a Heisman Trophy (Tim Tebow). Admittedly 2 more sophomores have won it since, as well as a pair of redshirt freshmen. But that is strong history working against Ridley. Even worse for Ridley’s Heisman hopes? You would have to go back to 1997 when Charles Woodson won the Heisman to find a player that wasn’t a quarterback or running back that won the Heisman. History suggests Ridley doesn’t stand a chance.
There was talk after the Cotton Bowl that Ridley shined brightest on the biggest stages. The talk was warranted — Ridley was coming off 90, 102 and 138 yard performances in the Iron Bowl, SEC Football Championship and College Football Playoff Semifinal. Then he had 14 yards on 6 receptions against Clemson. Wow.
The biggest thing hurting Ridley is his inconsistency. For every great game he had this year, he also had a pair (one mediocre and another disappointing) of less stellar performances to go with it. He also only had 7 touchdowns this year. I realize that Henry was a touchdown machine but 7 is still low. Ridley may have topped 1,000 yards this year but he also had an SEC Football Championship and extra bowl game to do it in.
More sec: Can Leonard Fournette Win the Heisman?
Final Verdict:
While Joshua Dobbs was a hard sell, Ridley is a soft sell. Ridley should put up more consistent numbers as the focal point of Lane Kiffin’s attack. I think he may get an invite to New York and may even win the Biletnikoff Award for the country’s top wide receiver. That is about as much as any wide receiver can ask for these days.
*All stats taken from espn.com*