4 QBs in NFL Draft carousel the Philadelphia Eagles must avoid

Desmond Ridder didn’t do much to rise on the Eagles’ draft board in Mobile.

Here are a few things that you heard once the Senior Bowl wrapped in Mobile, Alabama: “Jermaine Johnson climbed on a few draft boards”. “There wasn’t an interior offensive lineman that could handle Travis Jones”. “Malik Willis stood out the most of the quarterbacks who attended”.

Here’s a statement that you didn’t hear. “Desmond Ridder really made himself a bunch of money this week”. If anyone’s wondering why you didn’t hear that, this would be the reason. He didn’t.

Sure, Ridder had some nice showings versus Notre Dame and Miami of Ohio, but he also looked iffy versus Indiana and Navy. With everyone’s last on-field memory of him being one in which he struggled in the Cincinnati Bearcats’ loss to Alabama, he needed a big week in Mobile. He didn’t get it, and now with the draft on everyone’s minds, people are wondering about how we should evaluate the man who helped lead the Cincinnati Bearcats to the College Football Playoff.

While you’re mulling over these quarterbacks and their resumes, make sure you give some thought to what Ridder did in his march through the 2021 college football season. That might be enough to talk yourself into something that people are saying much more frequently now.

Some teams and draft pundits like Ridder more than some of the other prospects who will probably go ahead of him, but he’s getting a lot of backup grades as he’s seen as someone who could go late on Day 2 of the draft or sometime during Day 3.

Say it with us one more time. Who you play in college football and how you look against better competition matters.