After Alabama’s Henry Ruggs III ran the fastest 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine at 4.27 seconds, the Las Vegas Raiders made the former Lee-Montgomery standout the first wide receiver selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Raiders could have picked his Alabama teammate, Jerry Jeudy, who has 58 receptions for 928 yards and three touchdowns in his NFL career. Or Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, who has 89 receptions for 1,120 yards and six touchdowns. Or LSU’s Justin Jefferson, who has 99 receptions for 1,536 yards and eight touchdowns.
Ruggs has 33 receptions for 611 yards and three touchdowns for Las Vegas. While his stats don’t match some of the wide receivers taken after Ruggs in the first round, Raiders coach Jon Gruden praised Ruggs in three Las Vegas’ victories, including Sunday’s 26-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which featured a 61-yard touchdown catch by Ruggs.
“That’s one of the reasons we took Ruggs,” Gruden said. “He blew the top off in Arrowhead and helped us win that game, and the Jets. And today, that was a big play. Not many guys can run that fast and track the ball, and so without getting into any specifics, it was certainly a big play.”
Last season, Ruggs caught a 72-yard touchdown pass that put the Raiders in front for good in a 40-32 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs and caught a 46-yard TD pass with five seconds to play that lifted Las Vegas past the New York Jets 31-28.
Since Ruggs entered the NFL, he’s one of the four players with three touchdown receptions of at least 45 yards, joining Nelson Agholor, former West Alabama standout Tyreek Hill and Tyler Lockett. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the only player with four.
“It feels good just to be a guy who can turn a game around at any time,” Ruggs said, “and just make a play like that to basically seal the game. That’s the feeling I like.”
The Raiders had a two-point lead when quarterback Derek Carr delivered a deep throw to Ruggs on third-and-10 for a 61-yard touchdown as Las Vegas grabbed a 23-14 lead with 9:35 left in the game.
“When you call plays, sometimes you hit the lottery, sometimes you don’t,” Gruden said. “Sometimes you don’t get the coverage you want, sometimes you do, and I think we got the one-on-one that we looked for. We didn’t pick up the protection as exactly like we wanted to. We had hoped it would have been cleaner for Derek, but he hung in, made a great throw with an unblocked Steeler in his face to his right. But we got the coverage we had hoped for, we got the matchup we had wanted, and give Ruggs credit, give Carr credit – they made a heck of a play in a very meaningful situation.”
Carr said Ruggs’ speed made the play work.
“It feels so nice to have the guys to be able to do that,” Carr said. “I had a read, I had a progression and all that kind of stuff just in case that wasn’t there that I could go through and all that kind of stuff, but they gave us a good look. Almost got home with a blitz, too. But Henry’s so fast. Speed kills, and that’s one of the advantages of his speed showing up to where he could get open like that so fast and so quick that the blitz -- I mean, it got there, but I had time to throw it.”
Ruggs beat cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, and former Alabama All-American Minkah Fitzpatrick, the Steelers’ free safety, couldn’t quite get to Ruggs after initially moving to help cover tight end Darren Waller.
“It was a moon ball,” Ruggs said. “He just threw it up, and I just had to run and got get it. Do whatever I had to to make the play. …
“The first thing is: Don’t drop it. Honestly, when I saw that one, it was: Run. He threw it up, it was just like: Go get it. That’s all I could think of: Go get it and don’t drop it.”
Ruggs finished the game with five receptions for 113 yards, the second 100-yard performance of his career.
The Raiders beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh even though Josh Jacobs, their Pro Bowl running back from Alabama, missed the game, and their starting guards, Richie Incognito and Denzelle Good, didn’t play either. Alex Leatherwood, Las Vegas’ first-round rookie from Alabama, left his spot at right tackle about halfway through the game with what Gruden called a “back strain” on Monday.
“It just shows that this team can prepare under any circumstances and go out and do what needs to be done,” Ruggs said. “… We got guys ready to step up at any time. Everybody’s waiting on their chance and their opportunity just to make a play and help the team out.”
The Raiders will try to improve to 3-0 when they square off against the Miami Dolphins at 3:05 p.m. CDT Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
Carr finished the game against Pittsburgh with an ankle injury, and Gruden said on Monday he wasn’t sure if the QB would be ready to play against Miami. The Dolphins also have a question mark at quarterback after former Alabama All-American Tua Tagovailoa sustained a rib injury in Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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