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Quote:Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder

The QB hierarchy has been altered a bit since our summer projections, and one name in that mix we don’t want to overlook is Ridder. He’s going to be a bit polarizing in some circles, but Ridder possesses the size, live arm and athletic skill to be a very interesting prospect.

Ridder turned in a big first half in Cincinnati’s dominant win over Houston, as the Bearcats kept rolling on their impressive season. They’re a tough team to defend because of Ridder’s dual-threat skill, and I believe he’s helped his cause out as a prospect quite a bit this season.

Ridder’s final passing numbers (17 of 27 passing, 162 yards, one touchdown, one interception) don’t tell the whole story of how effective he was Saturday.

The 6-foot-4, 207-pound passer sat most of the fourth quarter, had two very catchable passes dropped and his INT came on an end-of-half Hail Mary. Ridder also ran for 103 yards and three scores. Many of those yards came on scrambles, not designed runs, when there were no open receivers.


I see Ridder somewhere on the Colin Kaepernick-Ryan Tannehill spectrum as a prospect, lacking the elite arm strength of Kaepernick and Tannehill’s passing rhythm. But with continued reps and development, Ridder could be a very interesting developmental passer.

There are three tiers shaping up for the 2021 class. At the top, to me, are Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and BYU’s Zach Wilson, in some order. Just below them is North Dakota State’s Trey Lance (although he might be in the uppermost category for some). Then there are Florida’s Kyle Trask and Alabama’s Mac Jones a tier below that.

Ridder could jump into that Trask-Jones tier, I believe. He’s not quite as polished as Jones and lacks their deeper passing touch and consistency now. But count me in on Ridder, who has become the prospect many were hoping Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond — who earned some second- and third-round grades this summer — would be.