In a loaded class at the position, the Las Vegas Raiders made Henry Ruggs the first wide receiver off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft (12th overall). With Derek Carr’s lack of affinity for throwing deep, Ruggs’ 4.27 speed looked like a strained fit (at best).
In Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers, Ruggs had three receptions for 55 yards (highlighted by a 45-yard play) along with two carries for 11 yards. He also suffered a knee injury in that game, and followed with just one catch for four yards (on three targets) against the New Orleans Saints in Week 2.
Ruggs then missed Week 3 and Week 4, as he traded the knee issue for a hamstring issue.
Ruggs returned in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, with a 72-yard touchdown among his two catches for 118 yards. The Raiders had their bye in Week 6, and here’s what Ruggs has done in the three games since.
Week 7 vs. Buccaneers: two catches for 35 yards (three targets, one carry for 10 yards
Week 8 at Browns: two catches for eight yards (four targets), one carry for one yard
Week 9 at Chargers: zero catches (three targets), one carry or 10 yards
The game against the Browns had a couple near misses for Ruggs, as Carr missed him once and he had a touchdown called back. In six games thus far, Ruggs has 10 receptions for 220 yards and one touchdown on 21 targets.
In the role that seemed lined up for Ruggs, Nelson Agholor has become a favorite target for Carr. The former Eagle has a touchdown in four of the last five games, at distances of 7, 59, 20 and 45. The most recent three have come in games Ruggs played, and Agholor is averaging 14.5 yards per target this season.
Since his return to action against Kansas City, seeing the field enough has not been an issue for Ruggs.
Week 5: 45 snaps-64 percent share
Week 7: 49 snaps-75 percent share
Week 8: 54 snaps-75 percent share
Week 9: 39 snaps-78 percent share
Ruggs has seen the majority of his snaps out of the slot thus far (177 snaps; 74.1 of his snaps, according to Rotowire). His average depth of target has a range depending on the source. Rotowire has Ruggs at 20.4 aDOT, Pro Football Reference has 19.9 and Air Yards.com has 19.2. According to Air Yards.com, among wide receivers with at least 20 targets, Ruggs has the second highest aDOT (John Hightower, 23.2). He has also been pretty good after the catch, averaging 9.7 (Pro Football Reference) or 9.5 (Rotowire) YAC.
So What’s Wrong With Henry Ruggs?
With Carr building better rapport with Agholor, Ruggs has been left by the wayside with few targets. A stray carry here and there seems like an effort to simply get the ball in his hands somehow. Carr simply doesn’t connect with him. But from a 10,000-foot view, there’s surely blame to be divided between the quarterback and Ruggs. More narrowly, an optimist might say Ruggs has a 14.9 percent target share over the last two games. Even more specifically, Ruggs has more targets (7) than Agholor (5) over the last two games.
Ruggs has missed, been injured in or likely been limited in four of eight possible games thus far. So he’s been playing catchup, with at least a 75 percent snap share in three straight games as the Raiders have not hesitated to put him out there. Six games on the field is not enough to draw any meaningful conclusions. So if anyone’s ready to call Ruggs a bust already, they need to press the brakes.
