The New Orleans Saints are putting their final touches on Week 2’s game plan for dealing with the Dallas Cowboys, and John Ridgway III might be a factor. The big defensive tackle was acquired in a trade with the Washington Commanders at the NFL roster cuts deadline but wasn’t active for the Saints’ season-opening win over the Carolina Panthers. Maybe his coaches wanted him to get another week of practice before activating him.
Instead, it was veteran backup Kendal Vickers coming up from the practice squad for Week 1. Vickers rounded out the interior rotation with 21 snaps, just ahead of rookie draft pick Khristian Boyd (18), while trailing Bryan Bresee (36) and Nathan Shepherd (24). The 6-foot-3, 295-pound Vickers is better suited to games with a lot of throwing while Ridgeway figures to play more into run defense at a listed 6-foot-5, 321 pounds.
And the Cowboys fit that profile. They still attempted plenty of passes (35) against the Cleveland Browns last week, but they also leaned heavier on their run game than the Panthers did with 24 carries compared to Carolina’s 17. It could make more sense to go bigger in the middle especially now that Ridgeway has had more time to settle in.
So this could be an opportunity for payback on the team that drafted him. Ridgeway was selected by the Cowboys out of Arkansas in 2022’s fifth round but was waived that September, where Washington claimed him. He’s already played against his old Cowboys teammates a few times but only enjoyed a single win (26-6 in 2023’s regular season finale). Here’s hoping he has cause to celebrate on Sunday.
