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Saints 2025 Year in Review: Defensive tackle John Ridgeway III
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- Saints 2025 Year in Review: Defensive tackle John Ridgeway III
Brandon Staley took over as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints in 2025 and oversaw a significant improvement on that side of the ball. Staley's scheme included a switch to a base 3-4 scheme over the 4-3 look the Saints had for a decade and a half. The players responded well to the change, as the team showed a solid rotation in their front seven.
Defensive tackle John Ridgeway III was part of that rotation down the stretch, albeit for just a handful of games following an early season injury. A fifth round choice in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Arkansas by the Dallas Cowboys , Ridgeway actually played his first two years with Washington after being released by Dallas. He joined the Saints late in the 2024 preseason after being acquired from Washington in a trade. Ridgeway played 13 contests for New Orleans in 2024. He was competing to be a part of the rotation in the 2025 preseason before an injury shelved him for a lengthy stretch.
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John Ridgeway III Year in Review
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Position: Defensive tackle
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Age: 26
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Height: 6-feet, 5 inches
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Weight: 321 pounds
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NFL experience: 4 years (2 with Saints)
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2025 season: 4 games (2 starts)
Ridgeway was in a close preseason competition for a spot on the defensive line rotation. However, a pectoral injury landed him on injured reserve to start the regular season. He'd be activated off injured reserve in late October, playing his first game of the year against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
After that Week 8 loss to Tampa Bay , Ridgeway was a game-day inactive for nearly two months. He wouldn't see action again until Week 16, recording a season-best 4 tackles in a win over the New York Jets . Ridgeway would start the final two games of the year at Tennessee and at Atlanta , getting a combined 6 stops.
John Ridgeway III had 11 total tackles with 1 stop for a loss and 1 QB hit in four games with the Saints in 2025. Now heading into free agency, it's possible that he returns to New Orleans on another cheap deal. The Saints will likely upgrade their interior defensive line this offseason. However, Ridgeway has shown that he can be an adequate contributor for the inside rotation.
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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints 2025 Year in Review: Defensive tackle John Ridgeway III
