The Raiders snagged Alabama WR Henry Ruggs III with the 12th pick in the draft and based on what we know about what happened next, the Raiders had Ruggs III graded well above Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb.
Here’s how we know.
The Buccaneers, who owned pick 14, traded up to pick 13 to draft an offensive lineman. The Raiders certainly would have been offered the same trade by Tampa Bay (a 4th-round pick 117) and could have moved back to pick 14. With Jeudy, Lamb, and Ruggs III still on the board at pick 13, the Raiders would have been guaranteed to have at least two of those wide receivers waiting at pick 14.
That means the Raiders had Ruggs III so far ahead of the other receivers that it wasn’t worth the risk of being stuck with the next best wide receiver on the board. Sometimes logic explains exactly how a team feels about a player and this was one of those cases.
Ruggs III was the wide receiver Jon Gruden wanted and no one else was particularly close.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Great pick!!
Way to go Gruden , keep grinding
good start
Good job!!
The ghost of Al possessed the body of Gruden and drafted the fastest Receiver in the draft.
I was hoping they would go with Ruggs if all 3 were available. Every time I heard the experts say how great of a route runner Jeudy is I thought about the exact thing was said about Cooper and we all know how that turned out. I felt the order the Raiders had them in was Ruggs/Lamb/Jeudy. And Ruggs is more than just speed and he’s going to prove it. The reincarnation of #21 is here!