Desmond Ridder: QB · Cincinnati · #9.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Desmond Ridder
Pushes it downfield on every look. Four seasons in the Cincinnati quarterback room to date. Named AAC Offensive Player of the Year two seasons running, most recently in 2021. A game that shows it: 304 passing yards and 65 rushing yards against South Florida — Week 11, 2021.
Play style
Elite arm talent, pushing downfield. Completion rate is the variable.
Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long
Where the completions actually land
48.6% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 20.9% conversion-per-dropback — 50.0% of completions land short of the sticks.
Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. checkdown by design
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
5 of the team's 27 inside-the-5 carries (18.5%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Yahoo Sports Oct 24
Front Office Sports Oct 22Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 251 | 387 | 64.9% | 3,334 | 8.6 | 30 | 8 | 158.7 | 69 |
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 186 | 281 | 66.2% | 2,296 | 8.2 | 19 | 6 | 152.9 | 68 |
| 2019 | Cincinnati | 179 | 325 | 55.1% | 2,164 | 6.7 | 18 | 9 | 123.7 | 32 |
| 2018 | Cincinnati | 194 | 311 | 62.4% | 2,445 | 7.9 | 20 | 5 | 146.4 | 56 |
| Career | 810 | 1,304 | 62.1% | 10,239 | 7.9 | 87 | 28 | 145.8 | 56 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 110 | 355 | 3.2 | 6 | 40 |
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 101 | 589 | 5.8 | 12 | 91 |
| 2019 | Cincinnati | 144 | 675 | 4.7 | 5 | 49 |
| 2018 | Cincinnati | 149 | 583 | 3.9 | 5 | 41 |
| Career | 504 | 2,202 | 4.4 | 28 | 91 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 49-14vs Miami (OH) | 20/25 | 295 | 4 | 1 | 11.8 | 96.9 | 4 TD passes |
| Wk 2 | W 42-7vs Murray State | 14/22 | 243 | 2 | 0 | 11.0 | 43.5 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-24@ Indiana | 20/36 | 210 | 1 | 1 | 5.8 | 62.6 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-13@ No. 9 Notre Dame | 19/32 | 297 | 2 | 0 | 9.3 | 81.3 | Clean 2-TD game |
| Wk 6 | W 52-3vs Temple | 22/30 | 259 | 3 | 0 | 8.6 | 69.3 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 7 | W 56-21vs UCF | 13/23 | 140 | 1 | 0 | 6.1 | 80.4 | |
| Wk 8 | W 27-20@ Navy | 18/30 | 176 | 2 | 1 | 5.9 | 52.9 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-12@ Tulane | 17/27 | 227 | 3 | 1 | 8.4 | 65.6 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 10 | W 28-20vs Tulsa | 15/23 | 274 | 2 | 1 | 11.9 | 82.7 | |
| Wk 11 | W 45-28@ South Florida | 31/39 | 304 | 2 | 1 | 7.8 | 70.6 | Season-high 304 yds |
| Wk 12 | W 48-14vs SMU | 17/23 | 274 | 3 | 0 | 11.9 | 99.3 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 13 | W 35-13@ East Carolina | 17/28 | 301 | 2 | 2 | 10.8 | 65.0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 35-20vs No. 16 Houston | 11/17 | 190 | 3 | 0 | 11.2 | 89.7 | 3 TD passes |
| Total | 234/355 | 3190 | 30 | 8 | 9.0 | — |
Week 12 · 2021
W 48-14
vs SMU
The plays that mattered most
Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 381 passing plays (245 completions) against the box score's 387 attempts (251 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.
Adjusted ANY/A
8.3230 of 204 QBsSack rate
5.4%80 of 204 QBsRarely sacked (80 of 204 QBs) and still 30 of 204 in Adjusted ANY/A.
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Short
0–9 ydsMiddle
10–19 ydsDeep
20+ ydsOverall 64.9% completion on 387 attempts · 47 deep completions averaging 30.7 yds.
4 seasons under Luke Fickell — 44-7 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 239 | 2.6 | 10.4 | 0.3 |
| Road6g | 252 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 241 | 2.2 | 8.8 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 249 | 2.4 | 9.7 | 0.9 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Luke Fickell
Pass share
46.9%
399 pass / 451 run
Plays / game
65.4
13 games
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2021
First team in his league at the position.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
Four seasons at Cincinnati, 10,239 passing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #74 overall by the Atlanta Falcons.
A stat line in 48 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM
All-AAC 1st team (2021)
Weekly recognition
4 weekly honors (2020)
6 career weekly honors across 2 seasons — a 4+ season has tracked to All-Conference ~83% of the time
Coaching lineage · 2018–2021
1 coachPlayed every college season under Luke Fickell.
Next stop · NFL
Atlanta FalconsEntering 5th NFL season
Atlanta FalconsEntering 5th NFL season
