Michael Hurley has praised Jordan Ridley for his stunning breakthrough season, predicting the classy defender to be leading the Crichton Medal voting after seven rounds.

Ridley's sharp rise has been one of the stories of 2020, with the 21-year-old having just nine senior games to his name before the season.

Now a mainstay in the Bombers' talented back six, he enters round eight ranked in the League's top 15 for rebound 50s, marks, contested marks, one-percenters and effective disposals per game.

Hurley said the No.22 draft pick's improvement was "incredible".

"He’d probably be winning it (Crichton Medal) I reckon, and comfortably," Hurley said.

"His development over such a short period of time has been incredible. He came into the football club (in 2016) and everyone saw the talent he had. He’s a pretty quiet sort of guy, but the way he’s flourished this year has been exceptional. I think he’s got full confidence in himself now that he’s an AFL player and a good AFL player at that.

"A bit of credit has to go to (backline coach) James Kelly for the way he’s nurtured him through the pre-season and this year, and that’s really coming out in his game."

Essendon will be looking to rectify last week's disappointing 42-point loss to the Western Bulldogs when it faces Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

Hurley said the nine-day break had afforded the Bombers plenty of time to right the wrongs, and that they were under no illusions against the winless Crows.

"We had a really good look at it (loss to Bulldogs). We fell down with some stuff around the ball," he said.

"In previous weeks, we’ve been able to match the opposition, get the ball on the outside and use our strengths. Last week, we weren’t able to do that and were beaten up all around the ball – forwards, mids and backs. It’s been realignment on the track this week. We’ve done some really good contest work and will hopefully take that into this week.

"They’ve got some great players – the Crouch brothers inside, 'Tex' (Taylor Walker) forward and their back-line has been really solid as well with their guys being strong at intercepting the ball. It’s going to be a really hot contest at Adelaide Oval, which is obviously a bit of a fortress for them."

The Bombers will name at least two changes when their 26-man squad is trimmed to 22 on Friday evening.

Hurley said he was confident Aaron Francis would fill the void left by defensive pillar Cale Hooker, who exits the line-up with a calf injury.

"Hooksy’s been big for us this year, so it’s going to be hard with him not being there," he said.

"Francis is the likely guy to come into the side, and he was playing some really good footy before he went out, so to get him back will be great. I think the back six has held up quite well this year. It will be another tough test for us this weekend, but we’re looking forward to it."