Desmond Ridder

Former quarterback at Cincinnati. 2021: 3,334 passing yards, 30 TD, 8 INT.

QB · Cincinnati · Sr. · #9

6′4″ · 215 lb · Louisville, KY

CFB Index 69 · #24 of 126 QBsHigh confidencePOTY finalist (model)Atlanta — drafted 2022, Rd 3, Pick 10, #74 overall

On production he ranks #24 of 126 QBs; on reputation he is a projected national-award finalist. The gap between those two numbers is the story.

The story

Former quarterback at Cincinnati. 2021: 3,334 passing yards, 30 TD, 8 INT.

Drafted round 3 by the Atlanta in 2022.
Named AAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2020.
Named AAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Cincinnati, 10,239 passing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #74 overall by Atlanta.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20209 games

All-AACfirst
AAC Offensive Player of the Yearwinner

202113 games

All-AACfirst
AAC Offensive Player of the Yearwinner

2022

Drafted by Atlantaround 3, pick 74

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Cincinnati

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #74

Atlanta · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

12 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

1 coach

2018–2021

Luke Fickell

Cincinnati

Played his entire career under Luke Fickell.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

AtlantaEntering 5th NFL season

#74Rd 3 · Pick 10

AtlantaEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Luke Fickell — 44-7 over that span.

2018Cincinnati11-2HC: Luke Fickell · Run-heavy

2019Cincinnati11-3HC: Luke Fickell · Run-heavy

2020Cincinnati9-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2021Cincinnati13-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

69Quality starter #24 of 126?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (85th percentile). Strength: pass tds (92nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#26 / 167 · 85th pct

12.7%

Success rate#34 / 167 · 80th pct

50.5%

Sack rate#60 / 167 · 64th pct

5.4%

EPA / dropback#61 / 167 · 64th pct

0.32

Interception rate#68 / 167 · 60th pct

2.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Pass TDs#14 / 169 · 92nd pct

Pass yards#19 / 169 · 89th pct

3334

Rush TDs#19 / 169 · 86th pct

Yards / att#28 / 169 · 83rd pct

8.6

Rush yards#33 / 169 · 81st pct

355

Completion %#48 / 169 · 72nd pct

64.9%

Fumbles lost#82 / 159 · 36th pct

Interceptions#110 / 169 · 31st pct

Season trend

EPA / dropback— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Success rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Sack rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Interception rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

245/381 (64.3%) · 30 TD · 8 INT

381 of 387 attempts matched to play-by-play

Adjusted ANY/A

8.3230 of 204 QBs

Sack rate

5.4%80 of 204 QBs

Rarely 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 yds

52%of completions

128 comp5.3 yds avg9 TD

Middle

10–19 yds

29%of completions

70 comp14.5 yds avg4 TD

Deep

20+ yds

19%of completions

47 comp30.7 yds avg10 TD

Overall 64.3% completion on 381 attempts · 47 deep completions averaging 30.7 yds.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

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

2026 season

Head Coach

Scott Satterfield

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

POTY finalist (model)

Our Heisman model has him in the top five; no finalist honor is on the books yet.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

69 · #24 of 126 QBs

Career stats

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	--	--	--
2018	Cincinnati	194	311	62.4%	2,445	7.9	20	5	146.4	--	--	--
Career		810	1,304	62.1%	10,239	7.9	87	28	145.8	68	--	--

Season	Team
2021	Cincinnati	110	355	3.2	6	--
2020	Cincinnati	101	589	5.8	12	--
2019	Cincinnati	144	675	4.7	5	--
2018	Cincinnati	149	583	3.9	5	--
Career		504	2,202	4.4	28	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2021

W 24–13

at Notre Dame

297 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 81.3 · 26 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD

With M. Fletcher — 43 AVG · 47 LONG · 5 NO · A. Pierce — 6 rec · 144 yds

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 2&7 · Q1 · EPA +6.77Desmond Ridder pass complete to Tyler Scott for 81 yds for a TD, (Cole Smith KICK)
Week 12 · SMU · 4&1 · Q2 · EPA +4.95Desmond Ridder 40 Yd Run (Alex Bales PAT failed)
Week 13 · East Carolina · 3&2 · Q4 · EPA -4.46Desmond Ridder pass intercepted, touchback. Warren Saba return for no gain
Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -4.35Desmond Ridder pass intercepted Sterling Weatherford return for no gain to the MiaOh 13
Week 8 · Navy · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -4.35Desmond Ridder pass intercepted Jamal Glenn return for 1 yd to the Navy 4
Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 2&14 · Q2 · EPA +4.20Desmond Ridder pass complete to Jadon Thompson for 47 yds to the MiaOh 25 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · SMU · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.10Tyler Scott 53 Yd pass from Desmond Ridder (Alex Bales Kick)
Week 7 · UCF · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -3.95Desmond Ridder pass complete to Charles McClelland for 8 yds Charles McClelland fumbled, forced by Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, recovered by UCF Josh Celiscar
Week 2 · Murray State · 1&20 · Q3 · EPA +3.69Desmond Ridder pass complete to Michael Young Jr. for 38 yds to the MurrS 44 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 4&1 · Q2 · EPA +3.65Desmond Ridder run for 25 yds for a TD, (Cole Smith KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

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@ 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 Houston	11/17	190	3	0	11.2	89.7	3 TD passes
Total		234/355	3190	30	8	9.3	73.8

How he plays

Play style

Elite arm talent, pushing downfield. Completion rate is the variable.

CFB Index positional classification

Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long

Where the completions actually land

fact

48.6%Completion %

20.9%Conversion/dropback

50.0%Land short of sticks

3INTs

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. ~ our read: checkdown by design