The Cowboys bucked a recent trend as they worked their way into the late rounds of the draft last weekend. In a game where speed kills and a blazing 40 time is often the deciding factor that gives one player the edge over another, the Dallas brain trust found themselves, instead, shopping for size.
The most recent game the Cowboys played was their unceremonious postseason exit at the hands of the 49ers, a contest now largely remembered inside The Star as one in which the Cowboys were outphysicaled and outmuscled. That’s what head coach Mike McCarthy was thinking of in particular as the fifth round neared its end.
“Mike was sitting there all day going, ‘Playoffs, playoffs. Remember the
playoffs,” owner Jerry Jones would later recall.
The Cowboys needed a beast.
They called The Vanilla Gorilla.
John Ridgeway III weighs in at 320 pounds. That’s the size of Tyron Smith. And Ridgeway is actually a little taller… at least if you ask him.
“They say I’m about six-five and some change,” he explained shortly after the Cowboys made him the 178th overall pick. “I say I’m about six-six with cleats on, but it’s all right.”
It’s been quite a journey for Ridgeway, who turns 23 on Saturday. He started his college career at Illinois State as an offensive line recruit, but switched to defensive tackle during his redshirt freshman year.
Turned out to be a brilliant move. The former state wrestling champ blossomed in a role where he could wrap people up and throw them around. After an award-winning (and COVID-shortened) junior season, Ridgeway entered the transfer portal and immediately got offers from over a half-dozen major universities.
He chose Arkansas. Suiting up for a team whose mascot is a vicious feral hog, Ridgeway further developed his own nasty, animalistic style of play. There soon followed merchandise that played off his beastly nickname.
But he says now that he’s made the pros in coordinator Dan Quinn’s defense, he plans to find a few…
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