Derek Carr has gotten a lot of criticism the past few years for not airing it out and stretching the field. Some of that criticism is justified. Then again, he hasn’t exactly had much in the way of a legitimate deep threat over the past couple seasons, so he doesn’t shoulder all the blame.
In order to try and remedy that problem the Raiders drafted speedster Henry Ruggs III at 12 overall and immediately inserted him as the team’s number one receiver.
Carr went for Ruggs deep up the middle of the field on the second play of the game, but he was well covered and the pass sailed over his head.
The next drive Ruggs would get his chance. He broke wide open on a corner route and picked up 45 yards to the one-yard line and the Raiders scored on the next play to go up 7-3 in the first quarter.
Big plays were what the fans were hoping to see from Ruggs and fellow rookie starter Bryan Edwards. Starting two rookie wide receivers was the story of this game. Ruggs the deep threat and Edwards the big red zone scoring threat.
The Raiders would get that kind of play in this game. But it didn’t come from either of the rookies.
Late in the second quarter, Ruggs would get his ankle rolled up on and leave the game, questionable to return. He was out all of five plays before Nelson Agholor stepped up to prove he could be that deep threat too.
“In the huddle, he looked at me and he said ‘if you come to me, just throw it in the end zone, I got it’,” Derek Carr said of Agholor. “And I said ‘well, I can do that.’ And we went to the line and sure enough he made the play.”
The play Agholor made was to get a step on his man on a go-route and Carr threw a perfect pass that dropped right into Agholor’s waiting arms for a 23-yard touchdown. THAT’s the type of pass and catch that’s been missing from this Raiders offense. THAT’s why they drafted Ruggs. So Agholor doing it is a big bonus.
“He’s going to air it out. We have some guys that can go get it,” Jon Gruden said of Carr and his new speedy deep threats. “He aired it out on I think on the second play of the game to Ruggs. We had a big play to Ruggs on the next series, and then Henry disappeared, and I think I said it during camp; Nelson Agholor is a lot better receiver than people think. He’s fast, he’s versatile, he’s tough and he really is a great professional and that showed in that situation. That was huge for us.”
I can confirm, Agholor looked great in camp. It’s kind of crazy to think that for two years the Raiders were bereft of legit deep threats and now they have two guys with that skillset.
What Agholor also offers that Ruggs does not in a veteran presence. So, even if he’s just a part-time player, he can come in and give
“When you have veteran guys, when you have dudes like that, the confidence it gives you as a quarterback, like, ok that play’s not dead, that route’s not dead, everything is alive,” Carr continued. “Every route’s alive, I can just play it how I see it and having a guy like that, it’s nice because not only do you have that confidence in the game, but he’s proven it in training camp. So, I’m excited about him.”
That 23-yard TD catch was his only catch of the game. It was also the Raiders’ only TD reception. It gave them the lead going into the half which they retained and extended through the third quarter.
Rookie third-round receiver Bryan Edwards didn’t have a catch in the first half and finished with just one catch for nine yards.
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