Las Vegas Raiders: In-depth scouting report of Henry Ruggs
By Nico Di Fede
1. The Basics
Standing at 5-foot-11, 188 pounds, Ruggs is not the biggest receiver. Despite that, he was tied for second with three other prospects in the vertical jump (42”), not just among receivers but the entire class.
In the 40-yard dash, he ran a 4.27 which was the fastest time in the draft class. Ruggs came in fourth among receivers in the broad jump (10’11”) and all of those times combined earned him a SPARQ score of 142 which was tied at first among all receivers.
Henry Ruggs grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, and attended Robert E. Lee High School where he played both basketball and football. His play in high school earned him five-star recruit status as he was the No. 1 wide receiver in the country per 247Sports.
Ruggs received offers from Auburn, Cal, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and Michigan among others, but decided to stay in his home state and committed to the Crimson Tide.
As a true freshman, Ruggs didn’t start but appeared in all 14 games as both a receiver and a returner. He finished the season with only 12 receptions for 229 yards, but of those 12 receptions, six went for touchdowns.
More. Las Vegas Raiders: Reassessing the Khalil Mack trade. light
Half of his offensive touches went for six.
As a sophomore, his production went way up. He caught 46 receptions for 741 yards on an impressive 16.1 yards per catch. 11 of those touches went for touchdowns.
As a senior in 2019, his numbers stayed relatively the same as they were as a junior. Ruggs caught 40 passes for 746 yards on an 18.7 average yards per catch. His touchdown total went down to eight, one of those a 75-yarder on a rushing attempt.
His production may not be on the same level as most top receivers taken high in the draft, but you have to consider the talent he was playing around. Every receiver that saw significant playing time for Alabama last year either got drafted (Jeudy) or will in the future.
Josh Jacobs was criticized for the same reason. Of course, he silenced any of those concerns with his spectacular rookie campaign. Hopefully, Ruggs will do the same.