Las Vegas Raiders: Midseason Awards at the halfway point of 2020

Las Vegas Raiders: Midseason Awards at the halfway point of 2020

Offensive Rookie of the First Half – WR Henry Ruggs

Henry Ruggs has struggled to make a consistent impact this season due to a combination of injury and circumstance. Ruggs was initially hurt in Week 1 against Carolina and gutted through it to stay in the game and even played in Week 2 but was forced to miss the next 3 games and his absence hurt the offense.

In the two games Ruggs missed, the Raiders offense averaged just over 21 points per game but in the 6 games he has been active, they have averaged close to 30 points per game. If you remove the outlier that was the Browns game, they have averaged 31.8 points per game, which would put them second in the NFL behind just the Seattle Seahawks.

Even when he isn’t catching the ball, Ruggs makes an impact on the game and is someone that defenses have to account for. He and Derek Carr are still working on their connection but so far Ruggs is sixth on the team in receptions but is fourth on the team in yards with 220 in 6 games. He has added a further 32 rushing yards on 5 attempts and it is just a matter of time before he breaks loose on one of those jet sweeps.

The Raiders may be protecting the rookie but they need to do a better job of getting him in open space and generating some touches for him around or behind the line of scrimmage. He is deadly when running past defenses but he has the quickness to take short completions and turn them in to long gains.