The Las Vegas Raiders are expecting wide receiver Henry Ruggs III to grow into his draft position after his rookie production didn’t line up with his status as the first wide receiver selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Raiders used the 12th choice on April 23 to obtain Ruggs after he had caught 86 passes for 1,487 yards and 18 touchdowns over the previous two seasons at Alabama and run the fastest 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.
In 13 games in his first NFL season, Ruggs caught 26 passes for 452 yards and two touchdowns. Las Vegas had the seventh-most passing yards in the NFL in 2020, and Ruggs ranked fourth in receiving yards on the Raiders behind tight end Darren Waller and wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Hunter Renfrow.
Among the NFL’s rookie wide receivers this season, Ruggs ranked 14th in receptions, 11th in receiving yards and tied for 12th in touchdown receptions.
“Henry Ruggs, I think, is who he is,” Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said on Thursday while appearing on “Upon Further Review with Eddie Paskal” on the team’s website. “I’m not disappointed in Henry. I think Henry’s got to get better. And we knew how fast he is, but he’s got to get stronger and he’s got to get in and out of his breaks better. You’ve got to feel him coming out of his breaks more for him to get to the next level, and I think he will.
“But we’ve got a long-term view on Henry Ruggs.”
Ruggs showed his potential as a big-play weapon on his two touchdown receptions. The former Lee-Montgomery star scored his first NFL touchdown on a 72-yard reception in Las Vegas’ 40-32 upset of the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 11. The Raiders beat the New York Jets 31-28 on Dec. 6 because Ruggs caught a 46-yard touchdown pass with five seconds to play.
While Mayock said he was not disappointed in Ruggs, in a season that he termed “frustrating and disappointing,” Mayock said he was “disappointed in the productivity of our rookies. I’ll be the first one to admit that.”
The Raiders drafted two other wide receivers in the third round. South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards had 11 receptions for 193 yards and one touchdown and former Kentucky wide receiver-turned-quarterback Lynn Bowden Jr. was traded to the Miami Dolphins before playing for Las Vegas.
Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette joined Ruggs as a first-round pick for the Raiders. He started seven of his nine games and yielded a passing-efficiency rating of 106.9 to opposing quarterbacks when they threw his way.
Third-round pick Tanner Muse of Clemson was supposed to transition from college safety to NFL linebacker as a rookie, but he missed the 2020 season because of a toe injury sustained in training camp.
Fourth-round picks John Simpson, a guard from Clemson, played in seven games with two starts and Amik Robertson, a cornerback from Louisiana Tech, played 35 defensive snaps in eight games.
If the Raiders have a more productive draft in 2021, the Reese’s Senior Bowl could play a big part in that. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL has issued more restrictive guidelines for offseason contacts with prospects and canceled the annual NFL Scouting Combine.
“This is probably going to be the best week of information gathering in the offseason because the combine is not going to be the same,” Mayock said from a box overlooking the field at Hancock Whitney Stadium, where the Senior Bowl teams have practiced this week and will play on Saturday. “We are going to have pro days, but the amount of contact at pro days with the individuals, even with coaches at the school, is severely restricted. … That’s why the value of the Senior Bowl, I think, is maybe more valuable than it’s ever been.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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