Henry Ruggs Improvement Key for Raiders' Offense

In what was a completely stacked 2020 NFL Draft in terms of wide receiver talent, it was Henry Ruggs III who was selected first among a plethora of talent. He was selected 12th overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, ahead of the likes of Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, and Brandon Aiyuk to name a few.

He unfortunately didn’t live up to his draft position in his rookie year, as he only had 26 receptions on 43 targets in 13 games. He recorded 452 receiving yards for an average of 34.8 per game, and he found the endzone twice.

While it wasn’t a complete disaster, it’s never a good sign when the top receiver selected in the draft finishes 9th in receiving yards among rookie receivers.

The Raiders will hope that he avoids the sophomore slump, and takes a significant step forward in 2021. He’ll need to play a key role in the Raiders offense, as this could be a do or die year for the likes of Derek Carr and Jon Gruden.

WynnBET doesn’t have much hope for the Raiders, as they rank near the bottom of the list of odds to win Super Bowl 56 at +7500, tied with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.

Their over/under win total is set at 6.5, with the over (-175) favored to the under (+140). Finally, their odds to make the playoffs are set at +350.

Ruggs III had his best game of his rookie campaign against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5 when he had 118 yards and a touchdown in a 40-32 win against the eventual AFC Champions. The Raiders will need more performances like that from the Alabama product, especially against the Chiefs, who are projected to finish with the best record in the NFL.

With the amount of young talent that’s in the NFL these days, Ruggs III has what it takes to join their ranks, but he’ll need a big 2021 campaign to start proving the doubters wrong.