The Jacksonville Jaguars have gotten off to a surprising 1-2 start, as their offense has yet to gel with the addition of Calvin Ridley. Truth be told, the wide receiver’s struggles are more a fault of his own, however, he has a chance to correct them on Sunday. The Jaguars head across the pond for their annual London game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Should fantasy managers remain confident in starting Ridley? We break down the benefits and hesitations of his upcoming matchup with the Falcons.
Fantasy Football analysis: Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley
After a strong season debut in which he totaled 24.1 PPR fantasy points, Ridley has been ice-cold over the last two weeks. He’s averaged just 6.1 PPR fantasy points in that time span, as drops have plagued him. Even though he’s seen a team-high 26 targets, his 50.0 percent catch rate is second-lowest among Jaguars receivers with five-plus receptions.
Start or sit in Week 4 PPR leagues?
Start, although Week 4 could be the deciding factor. Last week was the second week in a row in which Ridley failed to break a top-50 positional ranking, and he has no one but himself to fault for his lackluster catch percentage. Still, he remains Trevor Lawrence’s WR1, and the volume of targets he’s getting underscores that fact. Simply put, he just needs to haul in the targets he’s getting, and that alone will make him a viable starter on the regular.
Given his volatility in catch rate, he profiles as a WR/WR3 in both smaller and larger fantasy leagues. If another plethora of drops plague him in Week 4, he’ll surely drop into flex status.
Start or sit in Week 4 standard leagues?
Start, even though he’ll have his work cut out for him against Atlanta’s secondary. The Falcons are allowing 28.6 fantasy points per game to wideouts, which is the sixth-fewest in the league. They’ve also given up the fourth-fewest receiving yards (338) to begin the season. That being said, all it takes is one or two big plays to present strong return value in standard fantasy leagues, which means Ridley is worth the risk, at least for one more week.
Ridley profiles as WR2/3, albeit a shaky one, in smaller standard fantasy leagues. In larger leagues with more than 10 teams, Ridley could be a shoo-in to start given the limited number of viable wideouts available.
Player(s) you would start ahead of Calvin Ridley
Puka Nacua and Deebo Samuel are stronger options to start ahead of Ridley, both due to matchups and respective workloads. Nacua has thrived in Cooper Kupp’s absence and is averaging an absurd 24.1 PPR fantasy points through three weeks. Samuel faces a Cardinals team that ranks 21st against the pass, and he could see another elevated role if Brandon Aiyuk is at all limited in Week 4.