The Saban 250: 31-35 Calvin Ridley had Hand in Alabama Becoming WRU

BamaCentral marks the end of the Nick Saban coaching era with the definitive rankings of his top 250 players with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley (3) stiff arms LSU defensive back Dwayne Thomas (13) as he runs up the sidelines during the first half of Alabama's game with LSU in Tiger Stadium Saturday, November 5, 2016. / Gary Cosby Jr/Tuscaloosa News / USA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There are benchmarks with the University of Alabama football team, and then there are the kind of milestones that go way beyond numbers.

A good example of the former is a running back or wide receiver approaching 1,000 yards during a season. As for the latter, approaching the kind of statistics that Julio Jones posted with the Crimson Tide speaks volumes. You're talking nothing short of elite status.

That was sort of when everyone started really zeroing in on Calvin Ridley. As a freshman in 2015, he posted better receiving numbers, and then during his third season started topping Jones' career numbers.

Against Mercer in mid-November, when he had 103 yards before sitting most of the second half, Ridley moved past Jones on the Crimson Tide’s all-time list with 2,672 receiving yards, and tied him with his eighth 100-yard receiving game at Alabama. Amari Cooper (2012-14) was Alabama’s all-time leader with 3,463 yards, while D.J. Hall was second at 2,923.

Granted, Ridley was older when he first arrived on campus, 21, and the Alabama passing game had become much more prolific than when Jones was on the roster, but his accomplishments were still impressive.

“Obviously Julio is a great player and someone we have tremendous respect for in terms of the culture of toughness that he left the receiving corps,” Nick Saban said after the Alabama win at Bryant-Denny Stadium. “For Calvin to move into that arena is pretty special. "

Equally as impressive that Saturday was how he did it. On the opening drive, Ridley had catches for 25 and 12 yards as Alabama went 75 yards in 10 plays, which took 3 minutes and 33 seconds. It was Alabama’s longest possession of the game until trying to kill the clock in the fourth quarter.

He then made a dazzling play on the first play of the second quarter, a play-action combined with Ridley making a double-move that put his defender on the ground for a 66-yard touchdown.

“On the slant-and-go, you see the route running,” teammate Cam Sims said. That’s what makes him great.”

Calvin Ridley sluggo, easy TD. @DFF_Devy pic.twitter.com/88zXatAI2P

— Ty Wurth (@lostyhighway) November 18, 2017

At that point of the season, one week after having five catches for 171 yards against Mississippi State, Ridley had made 52 receptions for 858 yards as the primary target of Jalen Hurt. No one else on the Crimson Tide had more than 13 catches (Sims). Ridley had also made a recpetion in 41 straight games.

“I’ve just been focused,” Ridley said. “I want to win. This the hardest part of the season, and is when we need to get our wins.”

Actually, he was more than just a receiver getting hot at the right time. Since Jones landed at the Capstone in 2008, Alabama annually had an All-America candidate at wide receiver, or someone that everyone knew was going to be “the guy” at the position. Even though he wasn’t a starter
at the beginning of the 2014 season, Ridley took that mantle from Cooper, the first Fred Biletnikoff Award winer in program history, and went on to be named to Freshman All-America teams.

Part of that was due to necessity, as the game was becoming more offensive-minded, and any team that hoped to be part of the national championship chase needed to have an outstanding receiver. But he was also a key part of the chain for Alabama to make a solid claim as WRU. Ridley was the third of Alabama Crimson Tide wide receivers to be selected in the first round of an NFL draft between 2011-22 (with three others second- or -third-round picks).

“The guy’s got exceptional quickness, change of direction, ability to come out of the cut, has good hands, is competitive,” Saban said. “I think he’s gotten more and more patient as a route runner and I think that’s benefitted him tremendously. “He’s obviously been a very consistent performer at that position for us for a long time and he’s had a great year for us.”

The Saban 250: 31-35

The Saban 250 ranks the players who made the biggest impact during his time with the Crimson Tide (2007-23).

31. Ryan Kelly, C, 2012-15

• Won 2015 Rimington Trophy
• 2015 consensus All-American
• 2015 Jacobs Blocking Trophy
• 2015 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• 2015 All-SEC
• No. 18-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft
• As a junior missed just seven assignments in 806 snaps for a 99.1 percent success rate and did not allow a sack
• As a senior, Kelly missed only eight assignments in 1,012 snaps for a success rate of 99.2 percent. He also committed just one penalty in 1,012 snaps with no holding calls
• Team captain

32. Calvin Ridley, WR, 2015-17

• 2017 All-SEC; 2015-16 second-team All-SEC
• First-round pick 2018 NFL Draft
• Set Alabama freshman records with 89 receptions for 1,045 yards
• Finished second in Alabama history for receptions with 224 and receiving touchdowns (19) while ranking third in receiving yards with 2,781
• Totaled eight career 100-yard receiving games to tie for third in the Alabama record books
• Caught at least one pass in all 44 games of his Alabama career to rank third among active receivers in the FBS in 2017

33. Terrence Cody, DT, 2008-09

• 2008-09 consensus All-American
• 2008-09 All-SEC
• Selected in the second round of the 2010 Draft
• The junior-college transfer was credited with 51 tackles over two seasons, including 10.5 for a loss
• His two career blocked field goals came in the 2009 rivalry game against Tennessee, known as “Rocky Block”

34. Cam Robinson, T, 2014-16

• Won 2016 Outland Trophy
• 2016 unanimous All-American
• 2016 Jacobs Blocking Trophy
• 2015-16 All-SEC
• Second-round pick in 2017 NFL Draft
• Started every game at left tackle during his time in Tuscaloosa, 43 games
• During 2016 season had a team-high 37 knockdown blocks in 15 games
• Team captain

35. Javier Arenas, DB/RS, 2007-09

• 2008 All-American; 2009 consensus All-American
• 2009 SEC Special Teams Player of the Year
• 2009 All-SEC CB/RS; 2008-09 second-team All-SEC
• Second-round selection in 2010 NFL Draft
• Set SEC record for career punt returns for touchdowns (seven)
• His 1,752 career punt return yards was nine yards shy of the NCAA record
• Holds the school records for punt-return yards and kick-return yards (2,166)
• Credited with 154 career tackles, including 17.5 for a loss and five sacks. Picked off six passes and returned one for a touchdown at Arkansas
• Team captain

Javier Arenas on the cover of Sports Illustrated following the 2011 tornado in Tuscaloosa. /

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The Brick: Ryan Kelly

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ryan Kelly had heard it before. Being a third-year starter and in his fifth year at Alabama in 2015 there wasn’t much that could classify as being new anymore.

But when strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran said what he always tells all the seniors on the first day of training camp it got the center thinking.

This was the last time he would be going through the first day of practice with the Crimson Tide, just like he went through the final spring, A-Day and summer.

“I guess being the senior year every day that goes by is the last time you’re going to do something,” he said. “It’s unbelievable how fast the time goes by. My parents always tell me it’s only gonna go by faster. Taking advantage of it, just cherishing every moment I have.”

That even included 2015 SEC media days, when Kelly was one of three players to represent the Crimson Tide, and on Fan Day when alongside linebacker Reggie Ragland and running back Kenyan Drake led his teammates through drills. It’s the kind of honor and responsibility that eventually goes to the team captains at the end of the season.

“Ryan Kelly’s great,” Drake said. “He’s definitely the brick of that offensive line. We definitely need him moving forward in our process of becoming champions again because he is a perfect part in our offensive line and also a senior.”

Actually, with sophomore left tackle Cam Robinson the only other returning starter, Kelly was considered the lone established veteran of the offense. When he took over for Barrett Jones in 2013 he had Arie and Cyrus Kouandjio to his left, with Austin Shepherd and Anthony Steen to his right.

Those other four all spent the summer in NFL training camps.

“It’s cliché here, but it is the process,” said Kelly about his success. “Everyone wants to talk about it, but it’s the real thing. No matter who you bring in we aren’t going to change our standards for who you are. This is the ’Bama Way. This is a special place. It’s not for everybody to come to.

“I think that is one of the biggest things Coach [Nick] Saban has drilled in is that if you come here, you are a part of something bigger than you. Every guy who has had success here has partaken in that. All the success, the way he recruits—you can’t get around [the process], the hard work, the dedication, and he’s taught me to be a good person as well.”

The center position had a strong pedigree during the Saban years as Kelly followed Antoine Caldwell, William Vlachos and Jones, who were named, in order, All-American, second-team All-American and winner of the Rimington Award as the nation’s best center (the other two were both finalists).

Kelly was definitely in that same mix.

“My appreciation for Ryan Kelly is through the roof,” Robinson said. “Everything he does is behind the scenes, but he’s the heart and soul of the offensive line. Everything starts with him. Great player, great competitor, extremely smart. He does an incredible job for us.”

Ask any of the linemen, or even anyone who was on the team, and they’ll tell you that Kelly was the undisputed leader of the offense. Having a center with his experience was a luxury that every team in the nation coveted. In addition to being responsible for the line calls and adjustments he’s the one guy other than the quarterback who had to know absolutely everything — from the entire playbook to what personnel the opposition preferred to have on the field when it blitzed.

That was really the key to having Jones replace Vlachos after winning the Outland Trophy as college football’s best interior lineman at left tackle.

“If you can play center you can play anywhere because you know the whole offense,” Bradley Bozeman said.

Kelly, though, turned out to be the best of them. Not only did he go on to win the Rimington after helping lead Alabama to the 2015 national title, but was a first-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

“It has been incredible,” Kelly said. “I think the biggest thing that separates Nick Saban at Alabama from other coaches is the detail he goes into every single season. There is never going to be a game we go into where we don’t know what they are going to do, their tendencies.

“Not only on the field, but off the field, he allowed me to get a bachelor’s. I am about to get my master’s, which I never thought of getting when I first signed on. It has been the greatest experience of my life, and he has made me the man I am today. ”

See also: 36-40 The Debate Between Jonah Williams and Jedrick Wills Jr.

Next up: 26-30