New York Jets: Expectations for Stevan Ridley

In an attempt to replace the departed Chris Johnson, the New York Jets have inked former Patriots’ halfback Stevan Ridley to a one year deal. Ridley played in just six games in 2014 after suffering a torn ACL and MCL against Buffalo on October 12th.

Prior to his injury, Ridley lost significant playing time to Shane Vereen and LeGarrette Blount among others due to constant ball security issues. In 2012 and 2013, Ridley fumbled a total of eight times during the regular season, six of which were recovered by New England opponents. Given Ridley’s injury concerns and his well documented case of butterfingers, what exactly are the Jets getting with Stevan Ridley?

In my view, Ridley is a very similar player to current New York Jets’ tailback Chris Ivory. At five-foot-eleven inches and 220 pounds, Ridley is a powerfully built north-south runner with good vision and short area quickness between the tackles. Like Ivory, Ridley also has a knack for bouncing off of would-be tacklers and gaining tough yardage after contact.

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Ridley does have some wiggle and can make defenders miss in open space. However, I think he sometimes falls in love with bouncing his runs to the outside which can result in minimizing his gains. Furthermore, Ridley does not have the break away speed of a Reggie Bush, C.J. Spiller, or a host of other halfbacks that were available on the free agent market this year. To date, Ridley has only had two runs of over 40 yards in his four year NFL career.

Neither Ridley or Ivory are very accomplished pass catchers out of the backfield. Coincidentally, both halfbacks have only tallied 23 receptions in their four year pro careers. Unless one of these two players can drastically improve in this area, there are valid concerns as to how effective this pair can be in third down passing situations. Between the two of them, my guess is that Ivory is a better bet on third down because Ridley was usually subbed out of the game on third down in favor of Vereen.

Aside from the injury factor, Ridley’s main concern is ball security. I went back to 2013 and reviewed all four games in which Ridley fumbled. New England opponents recovered all four of Ridley’s fumbles and even returned two of them for touchdowns. In New England’s week 1 match-up with Buffalo, Ridley may have fumbled twice, but an unsuccessful challenge from Buffalo allowed the Patriots to maintain possession on one of Ridley’s miscues.

Oct 12, 2014; Orchard Park, NY, USA; New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley (22) punches the ground after being injured during the 2nd half against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Patriots beat the Bills 37-22. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

With the exception of his fumble in week 12 versus Denver, Ridley was not carrying the ball recklessly during his 2013 fumbling streak in my opinion. I could be wrong, but I think Ridley’s fumble issues are more of a mental issue than anything else, much like a good basketball shooter missing his free throws. To his credit, Ridley did not fumble at all during the 2014 season and compiled two 100-yard games before his season ending injury.

It must be pointed out that the Jets do not have much invested in Ridley to begin with. A one year deal is essentially a try out with the team. If Ridley can regain his 2012 form when he rushed for 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns, the Jets will have made out like bandits with this signing. If Ridley cannot stay healthy or continues to cough up the football, the Jets can quickly move on from this experiment and continue to feature Ivory in their offense. Being that this is a low risk signing, I don’t mind the Jets rolling the dice on a number two running back.

Jan 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley (22) rushes the ball in the second half against the Denver Broncos during the 2013 AFC championship playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Furthermore, I think the timing of this deal greatly impacts the draft for Gang Green. With Ivory, Bilal Powell, and now Ridley in the mix, the Jets will not be compelled to reach for a running back in the early portion of the draft. If nothing else, Ridley provides the Jets with added depth so they can rebuild their roster in other areas through the draft. With Ivory, Ridley, and Powell all 27 years old or younger, running back will not be a top priority to address moving forward for the Jets.

Despite their problems in the passing game, the Jets’ offense ranked 3rd in the NFL with 2,280 total yards rushing last year. In my opinion, the New York Jets had one of the most consistent offensive line units in pro football last year thanks to stalwart Nick Mangold, as well as D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Willie Colon. Along with last year’s leading rusher in Ivory, all Ridley will have to do is find a way to blend in. Sure, Stevan Ridley won’t be going to the Pro Bowl anytime soon, but if Ridley can be better than Chris Johnson was last year, that’s all the Jets need from him.

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