Calvin Ridley, Will Levis Struggling with Deep Balls

What They're Saying

Nick Suss of The Tennessean: "It's getting tougher and tougher to ignore just how impressive [Ridley] has been. The main thing that stands out is Ridley's footwork. He's a master of short-area quickness, a trait that's plainly evident when he changes direction in tight spaces. He has made a meal out of comeback routes in 1-on-1 coverage, creating separation with ease any time he has to stop, flip his hips, cut toward the sideline and make space for quarterback Will Levis."

Callahan: "We had a long throw in that stadium practice down the sideline that got intercepted. Will didn't get everything into that ball, but Calvin is flying. He's just covering ground so fast . . . You go back and watch it and you think he's really whole revolutions faster than a lot of guys on that particular route."

Terry McCormick of Titan Insider, on Wednesday morning: "Will Levis said he has been working on timing with Ridley and it started to pay off today with a deep ball and a nice catch up the sideline."

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

There are several layers to break down here ...

First, Ridley similarly produced inefficiently with Jacksonville last year, tying for just 26th among WRs in PPR points per game despite tying for 14th in expected points per game. That disparity points to Ridley (and/or his QB) not taking advantage of opportunities. That included plenty of missed deep connections.

Second, it's entirely possible for Ridley to be performing well in general but he and his QB specifically struggling  on the deep stuff. Delivering in that range would be key to optimizing Ridley's 2024 fantasy scoring. But he could be useful even if he and Levis don't nail down long-distance work.

WR DeAndre Hopkins' continued absence should only present more opportunities for the pair to work on it. And Kuharsky reported that Callahan was "reviewing" that film with the players.

Projected ADP Movement

Surprisingly, the market has seen no rise in Ridley's ADP since Hopkins hurt a knee.

He remains at the bottom of WR3 territory. That's the best argument for not worrying about how Ridley and Levis fare in the downfield game.

Although you want as many deep connections between them as possible if you have either on your fantasy team, Ridley's a low-risk option at his price.

We'll see exactly how he and Hopkins fit together once the latter is back healthy -- and how Levis looks in real game action.