Raiders reportedly sign 2020 first-round pick Henry Ruggs

The Las Vegas Raiders have reportedly signed first-round pick Henry Ruggs.

The Las Vegas Raiders have taken their sweet time when it comes to signing rookies this offseason, but on Tuesday, they officially made their first signing in first-round pick Henry Ruggs.

Much like the rest of the NFL, the Raiders have been subject to a peculiar offseason, to say the least. And as a result of the difficulties posed by the ongoing worldwide pandemic, many teams have taken a while to get their 2020 NFL Draft class under contract.

The Raiders weren’t the only team not to sign any draft picks, but they were one of a few. However, they made sure to make their first one count with their top pick in this year’s draft.

Rookies officially reported to training camp on Tuesday with quarterbacks and injured players set to follow suit on Thursday. The remainder of the team will join them next Tuesday, the 28th.

And with rookies officially reporting to camp, it was expected that news of official contracts would soon begin pouring in. That was at least the sentiment shared by Vic Tafur of The Athletic who tweeted out that he expected rookie contracts to “get finalized pretty quickly this week.”

Less than 24 hours later the Raiders officially have their first rookie under contract.

The Raiders will be hoping for big things from Henry Ruggs in 2020 and beyond.

Eyeing their glaring hole at the wide receiver position, the Raiders selected Ruggs with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The decision to make him the first receiver selected over the likes of Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb was a controversial one, but the Raiders will be hoping to see Ruggs prove his detractors wrong with a standout rookie season.

The hope is that Ruggs could provide an immediate boost to a Raiders’ passing attack that was rather dull last season. And given his incredible downfield ability and raw speed, he should have no problem making an impact.

Of course, the lack of a preseason and limited practices as a team will undoubtedly hurt rookies coming into the NFL. Ruggs, in particular, could use a little polish as a receiver and certainly would have benefitted from the extra reps.

Nonetheless, he’ll be expected to contribute from day one likely in a starting role on offense.

With rookies officially in camp, it wouldn’t be a surprise to the remaining six members of the Raiders’ rookie class ink deals in the near future.