In a year where multiple high end wide receivers were available, the Raiders selected the player they felt was the best possible option, taking Alabama speedster Henry Ruggs III with the 12th overall pick in the first round of Thursday's NFL draft.
Receiver was thought to be one the top areas of need for the Raiders and in Ruggs, they have what many feel to be the biggest game-breaker in a deep class of wideouts. Ruggs was the first receiver taken in the first round.
Other receivers that were mentioned as possible options for the Raiders at No. 12 were Jerry Jeudy, Ruggs' teammate with the Crimson Tide, and Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb.
Ruggs, though, had the fastest 40-yard dash time at this year's NFL scouting combine, finishing in a blazing 4.27 seconds. In 12 games this season, Ruggs, had 40 catches for 746 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games.
"I feel like I bring everything. I'm a playmaker," Ruggs said at the combine. "I don't just pride myself on just speed. I want to be a guy can do everything on the field. I get downfield to block for my teammates, just as they do the same for me. I play without the ball, and with the ball in my hands I can make a play."
Coming into the draft, the top receivers already on the Raiders' roster included Nelson Agholor, Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow. The Raiders also have Zay Jones, Marcel Ateman, Rico Gafford and Anthony Ratliff-Williams.
Of those players, Williams had the most receiving yards with 651 in 14 games played. Renfrow came on toward the end of the season and had 13 catches for 209 yards and two touchdown in the Raiders' final two games of 2019.
Ruggs, listed at 6-foot and 190 pounds, had his best game this past season against Southern Miss, catching four passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He also averaged 23.8 yards on 12 kickoff returns for Alabama.
"Henry Ruggs is a speed receiver," Alabama coach Nick Saban told ESPN on Thursday afternoon. "This guy's got tremendous vertical speed. He's very explosive, he's got great hands. He's really a tough guy, and he's a great special teams player. He's the first guy we put in the game to be a gunner on punt. Makes a lot of big plays running vertical routes down the field.
"This guy's going to be an outstanding pro player."
