Tonight, Desmond Ridder learned his fate as he was drafted by the 74th in the 3rd round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Desmond Ridder’s journey to the NFL was one unlike any other, coming out of high school, Ridder had just two offers, one of those being from the University of Cincinnati, and their old coaching staff led by then former Head Coach Tommy Tuberville, before Luke Fickell honored that scholarship after Tuberville resigned in 2017. Fast forward fives years later, he became the most decorated player in program history, where he led the Bearcats to back-to-back AAC Championships. Ridder led the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff during the 2021 for the first time in history that a “Group of Five” Team made it.
During his time at Cincinnati, Ridder was 44-6 as a starter for the Bearcats, including a perfect 26-0 at Nippert Stadium, where he moved his way into 3rd all times in wins as a starting quarterback in college football. Ridder passed his former quarterbacks coach in Gino Guildulgi for the most touchdowns in program history where he finished with 87 touchdowns, and threw for 10,239 passing yards during his career, while rushing for 28 touchdowns, the most ever by a UC quarterback. He has the most yards ever by a Bearcat where he tallied 12,418 total yards during his career, Which is also the most in American Athletic Conference history. Ridder the two-time AAC offensive player of the year, showed why he is arguably one of the top quarterbacks in the draft and his resume speaks for itself. Responsible for 113 total touchdowns in his five year career and that is the most in the American Athletic Conference history books. Ridder finished 8th in the 2021 Heisman Trophy voting, after a historical season where he led the Bearcats to an undefeated season en route to the College Football Playoff.
During his senior season Ridder Threw for 3,334 yards, 30 touchdowns, while rushing for 355 yards, and six touchdowns. Ridder was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year for the 2nd year in a row, where he finished 8th in the Heisman trophy voting. Ridder went from a guy with just two offers out of high school to becoming arguable the best player in program history during his time as a Bearcat. Ridder not on set the tone for the Bearcats program he was a key part into the program’s success since Luke Fickell took over the Program back in 2017, where he led the Bearcats to back-to-back AAC Championship’s in 2020, 2021, along with visits to the Chick-Fil-a Peach Bowl in 2020, and the College Football Playoff in 2021 where the Bearcats fell just short to Alabama 27-6 in the Cotton Bowl.
Congratulations to Desmond Ridder on the next step of his playing career, as #BearcatNation will always be thankful for your time at Cincinnati. The Front Office News wishes Ridder the best as he heads to the Atlanta Falcons.
