New York Jets make terrible choice with Stevan Ridley

By Luis Tirado Jr. | Apr 9, 2015

The New York Jets added yet another running back into the mix. As per ESPN New York’s Rich Cimini, the Jets have come to terms with running back Stevan Ridley. It was a surprising move to say the least since it appears the Jets are willing to take risks to see if they can find a diamond in the rough. Only problem is, this particular move raises a ton of questions since Ridley isn’t exactly the best option to go with for quality depth at running back due to his most recent injury.

In what is apparently a one-year deal with the Jets, Ridley will do his best to bounce back from a devastating ACL injury he suffered last season while with the New England Patriots. He’s currently in rehab and there is no guarantee he’ll be 100% once he returns hopefully by training camps this summer.

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With Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell as their experienced running backs, Ridley will try to come in and compete for playing time with the Jets as a quality option to really push the envelope offensively. Truth of the matter is, despite have a 1,000+ yard season in 2012, he declined much in 2013 and played in only six games last season due to his injury.

It’s a questionable decision the Jets made since he’s not exactly a game-changing running back as I don’t see him having the skill-set to beat out Ivory to even earn time as a starter. I can see why the Jets would take a risk on Ridley since he had a tremendous year in 2012 that saw him also contribute 12 touchdowns but there is no guarantee he’ll come back and play up to that level.

I can imagine the Jets wanted to add another veteran into the mix to replace Chris Johnson but this addition was a terrible choice. He doesn’t have the right speed for the Jets whether in their ground and pound offense or even in a spread offense if they change offensive systems around come next season.

He hasn’t had many big games and seems to be turnover prone as in his career, he’s had eight fumbles. It also doesn’t help that in the event the Jets do head into a spread offense, he’s not exactly known as a dual-threat. His 23 career receptions for 146 yards aren’t anything to go crazy over.

Oct 5, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley (22) rushes against the Cincinnati Bengals during the third quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets would have been better off adding someone like C.J. Spiller or even Shane Vereen when they hit free agency but are hoping they found someone that nobody expected to be a solid acquisition down the road.

I hope the Jets were right in their assessment and believe he’ll come back better than ever since but if history has anything say about it, he might just end up being barely average at best.

I hope they prove me wrong since I just don’t see him being any bit better than Ivory or even Powell. If it came down to it, it might have been better if the Jets just waited for the 2015 NFL Draft and tried to grab one of the top running backs in the later rounds.

At least then they would have gotten a fresh new player they could have developed for the future with Ivory and Powell leading the charge.

Regardless, while it’s good to see that the Jets put an emphasis on depth, I think they dropped the ball at adding another quality running back this offseason.

While I think Ridley might be able to contribute somewhat over the course of next season, I just don’t see him being a true game-changer for the Jets at running back.

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