It’s hard to set the bar any higher than Calvin Ridley did last football season.
As an Alabama freshman receiver, Ridley led the Southeastern Conference with 89 catches and led his team with 1,045 yards. His yardage total set the Crimson Tide’s single-season record for freshmen, topping the 1,000 that current Oakland Raiders standout Amari Cooper amassed in 2012.
“He was very productive last year and made great improvement throughout the season,” coach Nick Saban said this week in a news conference. “He made a lot of big plays.”
There was no yard line from which Ridley couldn’t score, as his seven touchdowns occurred from distances of 15, 45, 81, 60, 30, 6 and 50 yards. Could there be another round of records awaiting the 6-foot-1, 188-pound sophomore?
“I want to do that, but I am going to take it game by game and be the team player that I am,” Ridley said in a recent news conference. “I just need to work hard, and hopefully it comes around again.”
The Crimson Tide practiced twice Thursday and have completed 10 of 28 preseason workouts.
Ridley, who is from Coconut Creek, Fla., was the nation’s No. 1 receiver in the 2015 signing class according to ESPN, Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. He had three catches in last year’s opener against Wisconsin and four the next week against Middle Tennessee as the backup to Robert Foster, but Foster suffered a shoulder injury in the third game against Ole Miss that thrust Ridley into a ready-or-not starting role the rest of the season.
In Alabama’s fifth game, a 38-10 win at Georgia, Ridley erupted with a 50-yard reception and a 45-yard touchdown catch. He had an 81-yard score the following week against Arkansas, but he doesn’t look back on any favorite catches or games from last season.
His focus is being even better as a sophomore.
“I’m becoming more of a leader and more vocal with everybody,” Ridley said. “My blocking game is better, because I’ve been working on getting my hands inside of people and getting after bigger guys. I’m also just way smarter than last year. I know my route-running better and my plays better.”
Should the 2016 Ridley prove superior to last year’s version, All-America honors and even Heisman Trophy consideration could be in store. In 2014, Cooper became the first receiver to be a Heisman finalist since Pittsburgh’s Larry Fitzgerald in 2003 when he shattered Crimson Tide records with 115 receptions for 1,656 yards and 14 touchdowns.
That is getting ahead of things given that Alabama is untested at quarterback and also has proven receiving options with ArDarius Stewart, Foster and tight end O.J. Howard, but what if Ridley makes his most improvement during his time in Tuscaloosa between his freshman and sophomore season?
“He’s a hard guy to cover,” Saban said. “He’s gotten a little bigger and stronger, and he certainly has big-play potential. I have not seen any sort of (negative) attitude out of him. He’s doing all the things he needs to do to be a dominant player at his position.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.