took a look at Ridley's fumbles last year -- 3 of the 4 were on carries, the other was on a reception -- I think it was the play where Polamalu popped him when he was turning upfield?
On the 3 rushes, all were after consecutive carries.
Also, on each of them, he was being used fairly heavily at the time, relative to where we were in the game -- when he fumbled in the opening series against Denver, it was his fourth carry of the series; on the 2 where he fumbled early in the 2nd, he had 9 and 10 carries at that point; on the 1 that was early in the 3rd, it was his 14th carry. So in all 4 cases, he was on pace for 25+ carries.
This is a tiny sample, obviously. Maybe I'll look at 2012 later.
I don't draw any significant conclusion from this except that it confirms my general thought on what I was seeing during the games, and that partly contributes to me wanting Blount back. With 3 effective backs, keep all of them -- Ridley included -- from carrying too much, be it over the course of the season, in any one game, or in one series. keep them all fresh as the defenses they're facing tire.
(and maybe -- maybe -- that would help with Ridley's fumbling issues in the process)