John Ridgeway (American football)

John Robert Ridgeway III (born May 7, 1999) is an American college football defensive tackle for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He previously played at Illinois State.

John Ridgeway
Dallas Cowboys
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1999-05-07) May 7, 1999
Bloomington, Illinois
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school:Bloomington
(Bloomington, Illinois)
College:Illinois State (2017–2020)
Arkansas (2021)
NFL Draft:2022 / Round: 5 / Pick: 178
Career history
Roster status:Unsigned draft pick
Career highlights and awards
  • First team All-MVFC (2020)

Early life and high school career

Ridgeway grew up in Bloomington, Illinois and attended Bloomington High School. At Bloomington, he played offensive tackle and defensive 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

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, Ridgeway entered the transfer portal. He committed to transfer to Arkansas over offers from Indiana, Texas, Penn State, Iowa, Arizona State, Tennessee, Michigan and USC.[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.[9] After the end of the season, Ridgeway declared that he would be entering the 2022 NFL Draft.[10]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash20-yard shuttleBroad jump
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 s4.73 s8 ft 5 in
(2.57 m)
All values from NFL Combine[11][12][13]

References
  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. "Ridgeway finds way through detour". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. August 28, 2021. 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. "NFL Combine: Official measurements for every NFL Draft prospect in Indianapolis". theathletic.com. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  13. "John Ridgeway, Arkansas, DT, 2022 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
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