Chicago Bears: Calvin Ridley doesn’t fit Ryan Pace’s profile

Calvin Ridley would likely be a very good player for the Chicago Bears. But watching him at the NFL Combine doesn’t change this opinion that Ryan Pace won’t take him No. 8 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Now, as I write this, I know that Chicago Bears fans all over the place are probably still salivating over Calvin Ridley’s 4.44 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

And for good reason: that’s a really solid number and well within the range I expected from him. The idea of him being a “4.5” guy as I saw some suggest was always pretty far-fetched.

Also, if you’ve watched Ridley play, you know what he brings.

He’s the smoothest route-runner among the top receivers in this draft. He has the speed to dust corners and safeties over the top. And he has slick moves in the open field, starting and stopping on a dime to evade tackles.

Really, it’s a testament to Ridley that he has remained the consensus No. 1 receiver in the 2018 NFL Draft class despite really scattershot quarterback play from Jalen Hurts.

So, don’t mistake when I say that Calvin Ridley still isn’t worth the No. 8-overall pick in the upcoming draft.

I’m not at all saying that Ridley isn’t a good player. He most certainly is, and he’s the most NFL-ready receiver in this class.

But again, when you study Ryan Pace’s MO in the first round of the NFL draft, you clearly see that “polished” and “NFL-ready” do not sit atop Pace’s criteria. Special potential does.

Speed, length and athleticism. That’s what he went for with Kevin White, Leonard Floyd and Mitch Trubisky, to a certain degree.

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Now, Ridley could be special, of course. He hasn’t played a down in the NFL yet, so how would we know how he’ll perform?

That said, aside from having good speed and agility, where does Ridley stand out from an athletic standpoint? The NFL Combine, while no referendum on how good he’ll actually be, hasn’t answered those questions.

He’s small-ish (6-and-a-half feet, 189 pounds). He can’t jump (9-foot-2 broad jump and 31-inch vertical). And at age 24, he’s a bit on the old side as far as prospects go. Can he develop into a better athlete at the NFL level? Maybe, but he’ll need to get on that like…yesterday.

Basically, Ridley projects as a really nice slot receiver with some ability to play outside, though it probably won’t be his best position.

Pace is not going to reach for that at No. 8. It just won’t happen.

A lot of fans want to see the Bears them just take a solid player and have done with it. And you know what? Maybe that would be a decent chance of “pace” (sorry…coudn’t help it). After all, we’re still waiting on all of Pace’s first-round picks to come to fruition. In White‘s case, that might never happen.

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But in the end, when you pick in the top 10 of the NFL draft, you want a home run, not a double. And there will many better players with more upside at No. 8 than Calvin Ridley when that pick comes along.

Now, if the Bears traded back in the first round, I’d be all for that. And Ridley will likely still be around in the mid-first round.

But in the top 10? I can’t see a reason why Pace would take him that high. It just isn’t him.