Speedy Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III is a certifiable Al Davis-type draft pick — that much is undeniable. New revelations point to the Las Vegas Raiders selecting the former Crimson Tide wideout in an effort to emulate the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, one of the team's division rivals in the AFC West.
According to Raiders general manager Mike Mayock in a video conference later shared on YouTube, (and via Pro Football Focus' Kevin Cole on Twitter), the newly-relocated Las Vegas club took Ruggs as the first receiver off the board last Thursday in the 2020 NFL Draft to build the offense's speed and compete with the Chiefs. Said Mayock,
“When you look at Kansas City, and you look at what they have on offense … we needed to get faster.”
Interesting stuff in Mayock's post-round 1 call.
Chiefs played into the Raiders' decision to take Ruggs over Jeudy or Lamb: "When you look at Kansas City, and you look at what they have on offense…….we needed to get faster"https://t.co/yCFnqsAxFp
— Kevin Cole (@KevinCole___) April 30, 2020
Part of the Chiefs' Super Bowl LIV victory run relied heavily on multiple players and positions winning the speed battle against opposing defenses.
Kansas City saw strong contributions during the 2019-20 NFL season from receivers Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Mecole Hardman along with running back Damien Williams. The Chiefs defeated the then-Oakland team in both bouts last year, too, with an average margin of victory over 24 points.
Clearly, there is only one solution in mind in order to compete with former league MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the elite Chiefs offense: Getting faster as soon as possible for the Raiders.
Ruggs is one option to improve the team's speed — the Alabama receiver, selected 12th overall last week, ran a mind-melting 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine earlier this year.
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