5 breakout stars to watch for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021

1. Henry Ruggs, WR

The Raiders made Ruggs the first receiver off the board in the 2020 draft. But aside from a long touchdown in the win over the Chiefs in Week 5, and the game-winning touchdown that cost New York Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams his job in Week 13, he didn’t make much of an impact on his way to 26 catches for 452 yards and those two aforementioned scores.

Nelson Agholor had a better rapport with Derek Carr and became the downfield threat Ruggs was supposed to be last year. Agholor left in free agency off the best year of his career, which was a good development for Ruggs looking toward his second season. Then Agholor was replaced in free agency by a similar veteran (John Brown).

Ruggs averaged 17.4 yards per catch as a rookie, and 5.6 yards after the catch (per Pro Football Reference). So his speed definitely translates to the NFL, the issue was usage in terms of volume (43 targets in 13 games) and area of the field. According to Pro Football Focus, he had just one reception where he was targeted within nine yards of the line of scrimmage that went for 15 or more yards last year.

Ruggs has some improvements to make, as GM Mike Mayock clearly stated in his review/critique of the Raiders’ 2020 rookie class. But things are lined up for him to succeed this year, and doubling his rookie season catch and yardage totals might be the baseline expectation.