If Desmond Ridder goes high in the upcoming NFL Draft, don’t be surprised. Apparently, he’s impressed some teams.
For months, the two men considered to be the top quarterbacks in the draft are Malik Willis and Kenny Pickett. There’s no sure-thing quarterback prospect this year, leading to loads of uncertainty about how high or low guys will be taken, and who will get taken soonest after Willis and Pickett.
But Todd McShay is cautioning against assuming it’ll be Willis and Pickett going first.
“There’s really not that big of a difference when you watch the tape,” McShay said on "NFL Live" (which you can hear in podcast form above) about Pickett and Ridder. “I have Pickett at 21 right now, I’ve got Ridder at 32 and I’ve been preaching this whole past month that – everyone’s talking about Pickett or Willis, Willis or Pickett to be the first quarterback and these guys are locked in. Well, I’ve got news for you, there’s not a big gap from Pickett down to Ridder, and there are some teams that I have talked to that think Ridder is the number one quarterback, that they have him as the No. 1 quarterback on their board. So there’s a lot of different opinions in the league.
“I’ll say this with Ridder: his maturity and the way he’s handled himself in interviews and 1-on-1 time with NFL teams is part of the reason why we’re talking about a rise, if you will. His play we all knew about, they all studied the tape, but when you get with him and see what he’s been through in his life, the maturity that he has and how willing he is – he’s a gym rat, he loves ball, it’s 24/7, and they see that. Teams can’t be fooled by that portion of it, and I think it’s really come out.”
Ridder was a four-year starter in college at Cincinnati, and he took a substantial jump as a junior and senior. Typically good at limiting mistakes, the 22-year-old tossed 30- touchdowns with eight interceptions over 3,334 yards as a senior. He can make things happen with his feet, as well, rushing at least 98 times and 355 yards every season in college. In our mock draft two weeks ago, we had him going to the Detroit Lions with the last pick of the first round.
If teams really are hellbent on taking Willis or Pickett in the first round, then Ridder could be a nice value find at the back of the first round or into the second. Or, who knows, maybe he’ll slingshot ahead of one of the top two.
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