Las Vegas Raiders Prioritize Speed in ’20 NFL Draft

Having drafted both a punter and kicker in the first round in years past, the Oakland/LA Raiders had a history of going against standard NFL Draft projections by going with players they felt would precisely fit them. So, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that the new Las Vegas Raiders channeled their past and surprised again by making Alabama's Henry Ruggs the first wide receiver taken in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It should come even less of a surprise considering that the late Raiders owner Al Davis loved players with speed, and there's no player faster in this year's draft than Ruggs, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.27 seconds at the NFL combine.

"Jon and I could not be more pleased," Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said on a conference call. "The coaches are fired up; the scouts are fired up and, trust me, Mr. Davis, when we took the fastest wideout in the draft, Mr. Davis said that his father was looking down and smiling."

Skeptics will question whether it was right to take Ruggs over the two receivers ranked higher than him coming into the draft, Oklahoma wideout CeeDee Lamb and Rugg's teammate from Alabama Jerry Jeudy, who went 17th and 15th, respectively. But skeptics are irrelevant.

Ruggs' production at Alabama though paints a pretty clear picture, with 24 of his 98 catches going for touchdowns, a 24.5 percent rate that was the best in the SEC in the last 20 seasons (minimum 75 receptions) and third in Bama history. He also had one of the highest percentages of catches that went for 20 yards at about 35 percent in this year's wideout class. It's this explosiveness that Mayock thought separated Ruggs from the field.

"The distinguishing factor really was [Ruggs'] speed, his explosion, and his work ethic," Mayock said. "When you're in the division we're in, and you look at Kansas City, and you look at what they have on offense, and what their explosion looks like, we needed to get faster, and we think that his addition opens up our entire offense."

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