2022 NFL Draft: Desmond Ridder a legit dual-threat at QB

Desmond Ridder wasn’t a highly touted prospect coming out of St. Xavier High School in Louisville. In fact, he was tabbed as a two- or three-star recruit and his only scholarship offers were from Eastern Kentucky of the FCS and the University of Cincinnati.

An impromptu tryout in front of then-University of Cincinnati offensive coordinator and current Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor allowed Ridder to impress enough to earn a scholarship offer.

Former Bearcats coach Tommy Tuberville was the one who offered Ridder the scholarship, but after he resigned, current coach Luke Fickell and his staff elected to honor the offer. Ridder redshirted his freshman year, won the starting job a few games into the next year, and the rest was history. Which leads me to my player comparison.

Player Comp: Colin Kaepernick

This comp for Desmond Ridder is only to Kaepernick as the player and through that lens, these two are remarkably similar.

Both redshirted their freshman year and played for non-Power 5 schools. Both are 6’4” right-handed quarterbacks whose best traits are their arm strength and athleticism, and both have led their respective college programs to wildly successful one-loss seasons (Cincinnati 9-1 last year in 2020 for Ridder and Nevada 13-1 in 2010 for Kaepernick).

Does this mean I think Desmond Ridder will make multiple NFL Conference Championship Games and a Super Bowl? Not exactly. Let’s take a look at his strengths and weaknesses.