NFL Draft Profile: Desmond Ridder, Quarterback, Cincinnati Bearcats

NFL draft profile scouting report for Cincinnati quarterback, Desmond Ridder

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#9
Pos: QB
Ht: 6033
Wt: 211
Hand: 1000
Arm: 3268
Wing: 7900
40: 4.49
Vertical: 36
Broad Jump: 1007
DOB: 8/31/99
Eligible: 2022
Louisville, KY
Saint Xavier

Desmond Ridder
Cincinnati Bearcats

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One-Liners

Good pre snap plan, anticipation and post snap processing with a good arm and is athletic enough to extend plays plus be a weapon in the ground game but must clean up his base to be more accurate.

Pros:

Desmond Ridder is an athletic quarterback who displays strong mental attributes when executing the Cincinnati Bearcats’ offense. Ridder regularly shows a good pre snap plan of where his advantages are and strong anticipation of where he should be going with the football. He understands where his numbers advantages are versus zone coverage and which concepts should be open, plus takes advantage of off man coverage with quick underneath routes. Ridder is a solid processor post snap, reading coverage rotations and making full field reads when necessary. He has active feet in the pocket and makes subtle movements to buy himself time and extend the play. Due to Ridder’s processing of defenses, he regularly gets the ball out on time and to his receiver in stride. He can make throws to all three levels of the field, showing flashes of layering throws over the middle and has a strong willingness to drive the ball downfield with sufficient velocity. Ridder’s legs are a weapon that offenses should take advantage of, he has good foot speed and solid agility, plus regularly keeps his eyes downfield when scrambling, scanning for open options.

Cons:

Ridder has flashes of high level play but has inconsistencies in his fundamentals which lead to volatile play. Accuracy and ball placement are his two biggest weaknesses and it is largely due to his throwing mechanics. He is most often inaccurate when throwing to his right because he struggles to get his hips+feet pointed to his target, leading to misses too far in front or behind his target. In addition, there are some throws where Ridder leads with his arm more than his hip and cannot generate a fluid throwing motion/rotation, leading to misses above his target. In addition, Ridder is a very “toesy”’ quarterback as he rarely plays with all of his cleats in the ground. This leads to him bouncing around the pocket a lot, hurting the balance in his base and thus his overall accuracy. Finally, Ridder has made some bad decisions while under pressure, lacking ideal poise at times and throwing it into double coverage or fading away and lofting a jump ball into traffic.

Summary:

Ridder’s experience has molded strong pre snap plan and post snap processing abilities, leading to astute anticipation and timing on most of his throws. He can attack all three levels of the field with sufficient velocity and has plus athleticism to extend plays. His throwing fundamentals - mainly with his base - hurt his overall accuracy and need to be cleaned up. He could be a strong backup early in his career and could develop into an average starter by refining his mechanics.

Background:

Ridder attended St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky where he threw for 2,270 yards and 19 TDs and ran for 1,583 yards and 30 TDs during two seasons as a starter. After high school, 247Sports ranked him as a 3-Star recruit, the 1657th-best recruit nationally, the 116th-ranked dual-threat quarterback recruit in the country and the 10th recruit in the state of Kentucky.

Ridder committed to Cincinnati and redshirted his true freshman season in 2017. In 2018, he was the AAC Rookie Of The Year and started 11 games, threw for 2,445 yards and 20 TDs to five interceptions, completed 62.4 percent of his passes and rushed for 583 yards and five TDs. In 2019, he started 13 games and threw for 2,165 yards at 55.4% completion percentage, with 18 touchdowns to 9 interceptions, plus 650 rushing yards and five rushing TDs. Ridder dealt with nagging injuries throughout the year and was also named to the AAC All-Academic Team. In 2020, Ridder was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-ACC and the 2020 AAC Championship Game MVP. On the season, Ridder started 10 games, threw for 2,296 yards, 19 TDs to six INTs and rushed for 592 yards with 12 TDs. Through eight games in 2021, Ridder has continued his strong play, throwing for 1,847 yards, 18 TDs to four INTs and rushing for 171 yards with three TDs.

Ridder is impressive on and off the field, possessing the intangible qualities needed at the quarterback position, “As a quarterback, you have to know everyone on the team, even the defense, have that connection. Because they know you’re supposed to be the leader. Just being around those guys and joking with them, it helped me build a team camaraderie. I feel like that’s what set me apart.” It’s clear that Ridder has made an impact on his teammates, with senior linebacker Wilson Huber stating, “How far Des has come is astounding. He was my first roommate when we moved in, so I’ve seen the whole transformation over the last five years, and it’s absolutely incredible. He is the sole leader of this team now, and it’s incredible how he’s grown. Not only as a quarterback — obviously he’s gotten better and better every year — but as someone who can take this team under his wing and really push everybody in the right direction.”

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Grades

Current Player Value/Potential Player Value

7.6 / 8.1

10/04/21 - Cincinnati dual-threat quarterback Desmond Ridder proved why he is considered one of the top senior prospects in the nation, leading the Bearcats to their biggest win in school history over Notre Dame. Ridder did it through the air, delivering two touchdown passes and then beat the Fighting Irish defense into submission via the ground with a key fourth-quarter touchdown run. "We didn't just beat a top-10 team, we beat a top-five program," Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. "That's the Desmond Ridder factor." He now has nine passing touchdowns and just two interceptions, to go along with three rushing touchdowns on the season. One of the most gifted athletic draft-eligible quarterbacks in the Class of 2022, Ridder is expected to test extremely well during the combine and is viewed as an intriguing mid-late round value. Should Cincinnati run the table and make a playoff bid, his stock could continue to rise. 

Quotes:

"I think the legacy of the team is important to me. I’m not really big on individual glory. The culture we created at Cincinnati is something that you’ll look back at in 10 years from now and still talk about how great of a stretch it was. Some of the work we did off the field with the children’s hospital and Boys & Girls Club Of America was notable too. We were a great team, on and off the field." -- Desmond Ridder on how he would like to be remembered at Cincinnati

“For myself, I felt like I could have done better. We talk out there in California with Jordan [Palmer] about being on 24/7, as soon as you step in here today you’ve got to be on, you don’t know who’s a scout and who’s not.” -- Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder at pro day

"They're getting a winner; getting a great leader – a person who's going to come into an organization and bring a championship to them. To be able to change the way a culture is at an organization – to be a winning culture – to go out there and win super bowls on a consistent basis." -- Desmond Ridder on why NFL teams should draft him

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