The Raiders had their choice from among all available running backs in the 2019 draft, and they hit a home run with the selection of Josh Jacobs. They were hoping to make it back-to-back dingers by taking Henry Ruggs III ahead of all other wide receivers in this year’s draft. The early returns show some
Raiders’ decision to draft Henry Ruggs III ahead of other top receivers suddenly a hot topic
Certainly don’t think there’s any cause for concern…yet. Comparing Ruggs’ stats to those of Jeudy and Lamb, while natural to do, is not a good comparison. As stated, they play for teams with fewer offensive weapons; plus their teams aren’t as good and they’re throwing a lot more to play catch-up, so they get more targets; plus the Raiders are a running team, with long sustained drives, so fewer possessions. These all impact the stats. Still, it’s clear Ruggs needs more targets. But based on comments from Gruden and Carr, those will come. But I doubt he’ll ever be getting the same number of targets as Jeudy and Lamb will given the system he is in.