What WR Henry Ruggs brings to the Las Vegas Raiders | Yahoo Sports Draft Live
The Yahoo Sports Draft Live team of Pete Thamel, Charles Robinson, Eric Edholm and Tank Williams discuss what former Alabama WR Henry Ruggs will bring to the Las Vegas Raiders offense.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: Look, John Gruden has got to be thrilled. And Mike Mayock has to be thrilled right here to be able to get pretty much any wide receiver that they want at this spot.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: Pete, you want to add something real quick?
PETE THAMEL: I think if the late, great Al Davis were still alive, I would bet my whole 401K that he would take Henry Ruggs because nobody liked him some straight line speed like Al Davis. And Charles just mentioned that-- that 4.27. But I think that the most fascinating sub-debate of this draft, to me, Eric, has been these three wide receivers.
They're all a little bit different. They give you something a little different. And, Charles, why don't you take that?
CHARLES ROBINSON: They're going to take Ruggs. I just got a text message. They are going to take Mr. Ruggs, the fastest receiver in the draft. And I would like to point out-- would like to point this out-- I tweeted before the Draft started that Ruggs could have his John Ross moment and go higher than anybody expected.
Well, how about the first wide receiver off the board? We're getting in ahead of everybody here. I don't think Roger Goodell has even been told. But what I have heard is that Ruggs is going to be their pick.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: All right.
ERIC EDHOLM: Well, you start tweeting that, Charles.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: Before this actually happens, let's just recap where the Raiders are right now, as they get ready for this number 12 pick. They range 11 in total offense, 24th in points per game, and 22nd in red zone efficiency last season. They've added Marcus Mariota to backup Derek Carr.
You'd have to wonder if adding another offensive weapon, as you're mentioning for Carr, would be the team's biggest need at this point in the Draft. So you have to wonder also as well, Tank, how does Antonio Brown, that entire experience, affect Mike Mayock and John Gruden's approach in mindset entering this Draft, if at all?
TANK WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, well, once you've had a crazy girlfriend or a boyfriend, like you learn how to spot crazy from a mile away.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: [LAUGHS]
TANK WILLIAMS: So if like one of these dudes like cut outside the lines in their kindergarten class or put ketchup on their steak, or don't make their bed up the first thing in the morning, like they're not going to get any play in Las Vegas. So like I feel like this dude, AB, literally took years off Mayock and Gruden's lives. And the crazy thing about it is that even in this era of coronavirus, we look back at that time and still think it's crazy as hell. So I would imagine that, you know, Ruggs would probably be a nice, safe pick for them. Like it is Ruggs, and he's a guy that Nick Saban coached him, so you know he's going to be straight line.
You're not going to have to worry about any kind of stuff, you know, off the field or anything like that. So I feel like Ruggs is the guy that, like you said, fits into that Raider mode where speed kills. And the more you have it, the better.
And so if Ruggs is the fastest guy probably in the draft this year, great pick for the Raiders because they needed some help on the outside. Tyrell Williams, Hunter Renfroe, they signed Nelson Aguilar from Philadelphia. I mean, all those guys is just OK. They need a burner on the outside to open things up for Derek Carr or Marcus Mariota. Russ can be that guy.
MICHELLE GINGRAS: Well, you did hear it here first. It is official now. But with the 12th overall pick, we're going to give that one to Charles, because the Raiders selected wide receiver, Henry Ruggs, from Alabama. Blurring speed were the words you used, Eric, combined with competitive football demeanor is what sets this guy apart. Pete, would you agree with that assessment?
PETE THAMEL: I would. And, you know, talking to people at Alabama this week going over their litany of prospects, one interesting point was brought up to me, Michelle, when you look at Ruggs and you look at Jerry Jeudy, these guys have, essentially, played in three different offenses in three years. You had a little spread system of Lane Kiffin, another hybrid of that with Michael Oxley. And then Steve Sarkisian comes in and brings in a lot of what he did with the Atlanta Falcons, more in pro style.
This isn't the Baylor offense where you put one guy in one spot and they run limited routes. These guys have been in heavy. They've blocked.
They played play action. But they've done spread stuff too. So they really come prepared with a litany of different options and experiences that are going to help them translate onto the field right away.
