Future Bear? Top wideout prospect Calvin Ridley announces he's heading to NFL Draft

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A guy who could be one of the Bears' top targets this spring declared for the NFL Draft on Wednesday.

Two days after his Alabama Crimson Tide won the national championship, wide receiver Calvin Ridley announced he's skipping his senior season to pursue a pro career.

This was obviously expected, as Ridley was one of the best wideouts in college football this season. But it's welcome news for teams looking to add an impact pass-catcher through the draft, and the Bears could very well fit that description.

A lack of high-caliber wide receivers around Mitch Trubisky was a big talking point during the quarterback's rookie season, and while Cameron Meredith and Kevin White are both expected to be back after missing the entire 2017 season, there's little doubt that the receiving corps could use an upgrade.

For the Bears, picking eighth, Ridley would be as attractive a receiving prospect as anyone. He had a monster freshman year in 2015, catching 89 passes for 1,045 yards and seven touchdowns. After a 769-yard, seven-touchdown seasons as a sophomore in 2016, he caught 63 passes this past season for 967 yards and five touchdowns, including the scoring catch with under four minutes to play in regulation in Monday's title game.

All in all, Ridley caught 224 passes for 2,781 yards and 19 touchdowns, the first and third of those numbers being second most in Alabama program history.

Rotoworld's Josh Norris currently projects Ridley as a mid-first-round pick but has him as the first receiver selected. If the Bears choose to go with a first-round wideout again — they made White the seventh-overall pick in 2015 — they could gow ith Ridley.

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