The Las Vegas Raiders selected Henry Ruggs III with the 12th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, and we take a look at the pick, and hand out a grade.
The Las Vegas Raiders made a splash with their first pick and the 12th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft by selecting Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. Ruggs was one of the top receivers on the board after a stellar career at Alabama but vaulted himself in to the conversation to be the first receiver selected with a performance for the ages at the NFL Combine.
Ruggs ran the 40 yard dash in 4.27 seconds, one of the fastest times in the history of the combine and the fastest time at this year’s edition of the event. His athleticism is not just limited to his speed as, among wide receivers, he had the third best vertical jump at 42 inches and the fourth best broad jump at 10’2″.
The Alabama native was known more for his basketball ability than for his skills on the gridiron but he quickly became a star with the Crimson Tide, being named to the SEC All-Freshman team after scoring six touchdowns on just 12 catches.
Here is why the pick makes sense, and the draft grade.
Why the pick makes sense
The Raiders are desperate for an impact player at the wide receiver position after releasing Antonio Brown before week 1 of the 2019 season. Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock shuffled the deck at the position, trading late-round picks for lower tier players like Zay Jones and Trevor Davis who showed flashes but were not able to make an impact consistently.
This meant that going in to the offseason they were almost guaranteed to spend an early pick on a WR that could make an impact consistently, especially with such a weak free agent class. Mock drafts have theorized that the Raiders would select Ruggs due to the Silver and Black’s legendary love affairs with speed demons and they were right.
How he helps the team
Henry Ruggs gives the Raiders a weapon that can stretch the field unlike any they have had since the heydays of the first Jon Gruden era. He will draw double teams as opposing defenses will need to shade a safety over the top to contain his speed. The Raiders have had to face Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill twice a year since 2016 and they now have a player that has been compared to the speedster.
Ruggs has none of the off the field concerns that Hill had coming in to the league and has been raved about for his competitiveness and dedication to the game. Similar to Hill, he can be dynamic on both offense and special teams and is someone that defenses have to account for on every single snap due to his gamebreaking speed. Ruggs showed that he was not only a deep threat, but a catch and run threat as he would routinely take screens or short passes and turn them in to huge gains.
Adding Ruggs to an offense that already has stars in Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller and young studs like Hunter Renfrow will give Derek Carr the opportunity to prove that he can play at an MVP-level once again.
The concern about Ruggs is his slight frame at 5’11” and 188lbs may make him susceptible to injury but this is a league that is all about speed and he brings that in bunches. Ruggs was not the safest pick by any means but he can be a tremendous offensive weapon for a coach that prides himself on innovation.