re: Ridley to forego Sr season - entering the Draft

i loved ridley but im actually happy and looking forward to ware, ford, ridley, hillard, hill doing some damage


We have another Ridley on the team?

You're absolutely right. The human body has a certain number of hits in it and running backs have to go if they have an opportunity.

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Does anybody know where he will go in the Draft. My personal opinion is if you do not go in the First Round you may be pissing a lot of money away.

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Had a consulting firm visit this past week and told him he'd be best to come out since his stock wouldn't improve and only risk getting injured. 3-5 Round is what I heard he projected at. 3rd being overly optimistic of course.

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He just won't run away from anybody in the secondary.

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And he has a "wreckless abandon" running style. Pretty much doesn't shy away from contact. Similar to what they said about Adrian Peterson but not running upright. Alot of folks thought Peterson was going to get knocked the frick out the first two years too...but Ridley doesn't have that speed or strength.

Good decision for Ridley. Now let's see what these young guys can do...

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Does anybody know where he will go in the Draft

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My take:

Ridley is 6-0, 225. Ridley's size and tackle-breaking running style pretty much guarantees he will get a chance to play on Sundays. He doesn't look like a burner (probably around 4.6+) so his forty time will be key to his draft status.

Point is, 6-0, 225, 4.6 speed runningbacks always get drafted. People don't realize what the draft looks for and how big 6-0, 225 is from 5-11, 210.

The only reason big backs don't get drafted is if they got caught with MJ, or assaulted their chick, or had a recent major knee injury, or if they rarely played because they were behind a great NFL RB prospect, or if they had a shitload of brittle injuries and they never finished a season, had a shitty 40 time, etc, etc.

Ridley is not brittle; he's fully recovered from a previous knee injury & shows no ill-effects. He's never been in trouble with the law. Add in he's a 1,000+ yard rusher in the SEC who split carries and still got 14 TD's, and there's no way he ends up an undrafted free agent.

But even with Ridley's ideal character, 6-0 frame & 225 lbs of muscle, his forty-time will ultimately be the key to his draft status:

--If Ridely runs a legit 4.3+, he will be a first rounder.
--If Ridely runs a legit 4.4+, he will be a 2nd rounder.
--If Ridley runs at worst 4.5+, he'll go 3rd/4th round.
--If Ridley runs no slower than 4.67, he is a 2nd day pick between the 5th to 7th round.
--If Ridley runs a 4.7+, he'll be an undrafted free agent.


My guess: probably a late 4th rounder, or a 5th rounder. He'd be a perfect fit for my Saints.

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Ridley would be an excellent pick by the Saints. I am not just saying that because he is an LSU player--he would legitimately be a value pick and a position of need for them in this scenario.

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Yeah, I agree completely.

The Saints only have two backs bigger than 6-0 (and both of those are currently on Injured Reserve):

Chris Ivory: 6'0" 222 4.49 avg 40-time (went undrafted because of a knee injury & he assaulted his girlfriend)
Lynell Hamilton: 6'0" 235 4.57 avg 40-time (went undrafted because he had a senior year ACL injury)

All the rest of the RB's are 5-11 or smaller. Ridley could be a star in New Orleans.

Well if Hill's charges stick then it will most likely be Ford, Ware, Blue, Hilliard, and Magee.