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John Ridgeway III

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John Ridgeway
refer to caption
Ridgeway with the Washington Commanders in 2024
No. 95 – New Orleans Saints
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1999-05-07) May 7, 1999 (age 25)
Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:321 lb (146 kg)
Career information
High school:Bloomington (Illinois)
College:
NFL draft:2022 / round: 5 / pick: 178
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-MVFC (2020)
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Total tackles:55
Forced fumbles:1
Pass deflections:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

John Robert Ridgeway III (born May 7, 1999) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Illinois State Redbirds and Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Ridgeway has also played for the Washington Commanders.

Early life

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Ridgeway grew up in Bloomington, Illinois, and attended Bloomington High School. At Bloomington, he played offensive tackle and defensive tackle on the football team, competed in the shot put and discus on the track and field team, and was a four-year letter winner on the wrestling team. Ridgeway was named first-team All-Big Twelve Conference on offense and first-team All-State on defense as a senior.[1] He also won the state heavyweight wrestling championship.[2]

College career

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Ridgeway began his collegiate career at Illinois State, where he redshirted as a true freshman.[3] During his redshirt season he focused on the defensive tackle position after initially being recruited to play on the offensive line.[4] Ridgeway was named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) All-Newcomer team as a redshirt freshman after recording 30 tackles with one sack.[5] He had 22 tackles with three tackles for loss and was named first-team All-MVFC in his redshirt junior season, which was shortened and played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[6] After the season, he transferred to Arkansas.[7]

Ridgeway was named the Razorback's starting nose guard going into the 2021 season, but missed the season opener due to an appendectomy.[8] He finished the season with 39 tackles, two sacks and four tackles for loss, helping Arkansas finish 9-4 and ranked #21 in the AP Poll for the season after winning the 2022 Outback Bowl over Penn St.[9] Ridgeway declared for the 2022 NFL draft after the end of the season.[10]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 5+1⁄8 in
(1.96 m) 		321 lb
(146 kg) 		33+3⁄8 in
(0.85 m) 		10 in
(0.25 m)		 5.30 s 1.81 s 3.04 s 4.69 s 7.90 s 28.0 in
(0.71 m)		 8 ft 5 in
(2.57 m)		 25 reps
Sources:[11][12][13]

Ridgeway was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round (178th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.[14] He was waived on September 17, 2022.[15]

Ridgeway stretching before a game with the Washington Commanders, 2022

Ridgeway was claimed off waivers by the Washington Commanders on September 19, 2022.[16] In the Week 9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Ridgeway made a critical mistake for illegal contact with Andrew DePaola on the Vikings' field goal attempt on fourth down with less than two minutes remaining in the game.[17] The Commanders were flagged with an unnecessary roughness penalty giving the Vikings another first down, which allowed them to run out the clock before scoring a field goal and ending the game at a final score of 20-17.[18][19] The following week, he forced a fumble out of tight end Dallas Goedert which was recovered by linebacker Jamin Davis ultimately helping to beat the then undefeated Philadelphia Eagles.[20]

On August 28, 2024, the Commanders traded Ridgeway and a seventh round pick in the 2025 NFL draft to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a sixth round pick (which was later returned by the Commanders as part of the compensation in the trade for Marshon Lattimore).[21]

References

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  1. ^ Benson, Jim (July 9, 2017). "Ridgeway made the grade in more than one way". The Pantagraph. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  2. ^ "Ridgeway, Feeney take home top awards". The Pantagraph. June 20, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  3. ^ Kindred, Randy (August 8, 2018). "Kindred: Position switch a good fit for BHS grad Ridgeway". The Pantagraph. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Reinhardt, Randy (September 19, 2018). "ISU's Hirsch, Ridgeway improve through daily battles". The Pantagraph. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  5. ^ Bonitto, Barry (November 15, 2019). "Big man, big personality". ChicagoNow. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Kirk, Otis (April 25, 2021). "Arkansas Adds Second Graduate Transfer D-lineman Sunday With John Ridgeway Joining the Hogs". Fox16.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Allen, Nate (August 28, 2021). "Ridgeway finds way through detour". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Kekis, John (November 24, 2021). "NFL Prospect Watch: Arkansas NT John Ridgeway thriving". APNews.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Kirk, Otis (December 29, 2021). "John Ridgeway Planning to Finish What he Started at Arkansas in Outback Bowl". KARK.com. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  10. ^ Long, Christina (January 6, 2022). "Arkansas defensive lineman John Ridgeway declares for NFL Draft". Southwest Times Record. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  11. ^ "John Ridgeway Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  12. ^ "John Ridgeway, Arkansas, DT, 2022 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  13. ^ "John Ridgeway 2022 NFL Draft Profile". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  14. ^ Phillips, Rob (April 30, 2022). "Clark, Ridgeway Highlight Four 5th-Round Picks". DallasCowboys.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  15. ^ Hamm, Timm (September 17, 2022). "Cowboys BREAKING: Cooper Rush Moves, Rookie DT John Ridgeway Cut; Bengals Week 2: How to Watch, Betting Odds". SI.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  16. ^ Selby, Zach (September 19, 2022). "Commanders claim DT John Ridgeway off waivers, release DT Donovan Jeter". Commanders.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  17. ^ "Vikings come back to beat Commanders for 6th consecutive win". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 6, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Selby, Zach (November 6, 2022). "5 takeaways from Washington's 20–17 loss to the Vikings". Commanders.com. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Finlay, JP (November 6, 2022). "Stock Report: Late penalty ends Commanders' shot at 4th straight". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Selby, Zach (November 15, 2022). "5 takeaways from the Commanders' upset win on Monday Night Football". Commanders.com. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  21. ^ Fortier, Sam (August 29, 2024). "Commanders sign wideout Noah Brown, trade lineman John Ridgeway". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
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