Jaguars WR Jamal Agnew says new addition Calvin Ridley is a 'mismatch nightmare'
Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Jamal Agnew knows the team has a “mismatch nightmare” at their disposal in Calvin Ridley, whom the team acquired in a trade from the Atlanta Falcons last November.
It only took Agnew a few practices to come to that determination, he told talkSPORT this week.
“Just the way he moves, you can see. His route running, he can run, catch anything you throw to him, he’s just different, man,” Agnew said, via NFL.com. “You just watch him out there, he’s a mismatch nightmare. In my opinion I don’t think anybody can guard him in the league.”
During his last full season in 2020, Ridley hauled in 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns. The NFL suspended Ridley, 28, for the entirety of the 2022 season after an investigation found he bet on NFL games over a five-day stretch in November 2021. The Jaguars acquired Ridley from the Falcons in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 that could become a second-round pick if the Jaguars sign Ridley to an extension. Ridley is set to play on his fifth-year option in 2023 and will earn $11.116 million in guaranteed money.
Calvin Ridley excited to join potent Jaguars’ offense
Ridley is joining a Jaguars offense which took huge strides last season under first-year head coach Doug Pederson. Jacksonville earned its first playoff appearance since 2017, aided by an offense which finished 10th in the NFL. The pieces which were key to their success, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne Jr., receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones and tight end Evan Engram are all back — now alongside Ridley.
“I have to gradually get my body back to football and be peaking going into the season – not out here [in OTAs],” Ridley said during OTAs in May, via Jaguars.com. “I’m kind of picking it up a little bit, just trying to get myself the reps I could get. But they just want me to slowly build towards the season.
“Of course, I expect I would be a little rusty because you can’t really get ready for this. Just running every day is what really causes you get sore. I just have to make sure I build and not be sore in the season.”