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(11-10-2020 03:04 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(11-10-2020 11:03 AM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-10-2020 10:58 AM)skylinecat Wrote:  

(11-10-2020 10:53 AM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-10-2020 10:40 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  From Yahoo...
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-draft-winne...51978.html

Ridder has the athletic profile and had played a lot better. He still needs to continue to improve for us to accomplish what we would like to accomplish and definitely before he is a shoo in to be drafted.

The main thing he needs to show is his downfield accuracy. If he can start hitting the open receivers consistently on the deep ball he will move up boards. He still has another year so he has time to continue working on these parts of his game.

I'd love to be wrong but I just don't see him as being accurate enough to get an NFL roster spot. The window to hit an open receiver is about 1/3 of the size and open for about 1/3 of the time as it is in college, especially against defenses like Memphis. He just misses too many open guys and the problem coupled with that is that the misses are usually long which in the NFL would mean right to a safety closing in on the play. Now some better coaching on his footwork would probably help, but I've seen in the past that NFL coaches basically operate with the assumption that you won't dramatically improve a QB's accuracy or a WR's hands.

His other problem is that there really aren't any QB's that play his style of game right now in the NFL. As a backup, a team isn't going to want to change their game plan or have to install a new game plan in the event a QB goes down. If Kaepernick was still starting for the 49ers he'd be a perfect back up, but he'd be a horrible fit for a team like the Bengals with Burrow. Maybe he'd fit in at Baltimore but he's not nearly as dynamic as Lamar.

That’s my point as well, that he has to be able to accurately hit receivers. I think his short and mid range accuracy is fine, but he will have to show he can accurately and consistently hit the deep ball. He has made strides and he has another year so he has a chance, but he will have to improve and show the ability to hit the deep ball consistently.

I agree with your take. He has the height and continues to fill out his frame while keeping his speed so far so that's a plus. His running/scrambling ability is his calling card and a huge plus. He's also been showing nice touch and accuracy in short and midrange passing. And he also seems to really understand the offense and how to run it given how much freedom he has with calling plays. His decision making also seems to have made great strides lately. Leadership is apparently top of the charts great.

What's left? I'm no expert but his release seems quick enough to me. I think he still needs to work on getting through progressions but he is progressing (pun intended) there it seems. I even think he has an OK amount of deep ball arm strength to get by.

But like you said, deep ball accuracy is his Achilles heel. I suspect he looks better at it in practice and he has another year (maybe even two) after this to further develop it and more importantly show it so who knows (I"m not sure why he is talked about as class of 2021 as I can't see him declaring for the draft.)

And if he doesn't show enough deep ball improvement, he might fit in the CFL or maybe even get a shot as a WR.

Yea, I could see him get a shot at WR, similar to Terrell Pryor, if he doesn’t improve his deep ball accuracy. I don’t know what Des would run in the 40, or what his hands are like, but I could see a team giving him a shot at least. Pryor had a couple of productive seasons as well at WR.