Las Vegas Raiders 2020 NFL Draft prospect profile: Henry Ruggs III

Fit in Las Vegas

It’s common knowledge that Jon Gruden runs a West Coast offense that requires precision and timing more than pure speed and athleticism but he has also spoken openly about wanting to stretch the field more often. Last season the Raiders had 54 passing plays of over 20 yards, good enough for 12th in the NFL and 10 plays of over 40 yards, ranked 10th in the NFL.

This does not necessarily mean that they were all deep shots down the field but it shows the explosive potential of the offense considering the lack of consistent weapons at wide receiver.

In his college career, Ruggs averaged 17.5 yards per reception and consistently displayed his ability to stretch the field and explode for big plays. Of his 24 career receiving touchdowns, four were between 30-50 yards, three were from 50-70 yards out, and three were longer than 70 yards.

Ruggs won’t have that same freedom to run past the better athletes in the NFL but as the old saying goes, you can’t teach speed. Mixing in a player as explosive as Ruggs to the Raiders offense would open the rest of the field up for the other targets as he would more often than not draw safety help over the top.

So the question is not how would the Alabama speedster fit in to the Raiders offense but what the Raiders offense would do to fit around him.

The concern with a player like Ruggs is whether or not he is a one-trick pony. We have seen plenty of speed demons flame out in the NFL because they either can’t stay healthy, can’t catch, or are just not polished enough as route runners to make their speed really count.

The Raiders have seen the downside of the speed demon receiver when they drafted Darrius Heyward-Bey 7th overall in 2009 who never quite panned out. Add in the concerns about Ruggs’ size and the doubts may start to creep in. For every Tyreek Hill that dominates there are three Tavon Austins or John Rosses that don’t make any lasting impact.

The Raiders and specifically Al Davis had a reputation for always taking the fastest players available in the draft and that reputation was well earned. Of the 15 fastest 40 times in combine history, four were eventually selected by the Raiders in the subsequent drafts so if Al was still running the team, Ruggs would likely be a Raider.

Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock do things a little differently than Mr. Davis so they will need to decide, if all three are available with the 12th pick, whether they want more polished receivers like CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy or if they will roll the dice on Henry Ruggs and his gamebreaking speed.