Henry Ruggs III and Jerry Jeudy may have only been drafted 3 picks apart in the 2020 NFL Draft, but according to PFF, Jeudy has a better chance of being successful in his rookie year than Ruggs, and it has nothing to do with talent.
Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy was drafted as the 15th overall pick by the Denver Broncos. According to PFF, the Broncos are an incredible fit for Jeudy:
“Jeudy’s success in the NFL has far less to do with his own talent than it does with Drew Lock and the offense as a whole. The Broncos put some training wheels on Lock when he took over last season, and they passed on only 61.1% of their offensive plays from Week 13 on. If that opens up, there’s no reason to think Jeudy can’t replace the six targets a game that Emmanuel Sanders was getting while in a Broncos uniform.”
Who knows? Maybe Jeudy can become the offensive anchor the Broncos offense needs, especially since he’s such a reliable target.
In his three seasons at Alabama, Jeudy recorded an impressive159 receptions for 2,742 yards and 26 touchdowns.
But what about Henry Ruggs III? Will he be just as successful as Jeudy?
According to PFF, no. His situation is less than ideal:
“The worry with Ruggs isn’t whether he will see the field, but rather will he be put in a position to succeed? He goes to a quarterback in Derek Carr who targeted deep routes at the fifth-lowest rate of any starter in the NFL. When targeting receivers last season, his average depth of target was only 10.3 yards downfield (fifth-lowest in NFL). That number was 10.2 in 2018, as well (lowest in NFL). You can make a chicken or the egg argument, but the place where Ruggs’ speed is most dangerous hasn’t been in his new quarterback’s wheelhouse.”
Maybe one of the reasons the Raiders drafted Ruggs was to have a reliable receiver downfield for Carr to connect with. But don’t forget that Ruggs is a versatile receiver and is also successful on quick slants and out routes. Maybe the Raiders will find a way to not only utilize Ruggs, but also find a way to get Carr to connect to his receiver deep downfield.
Last season, Ruggs recorded an impressive 40 receptions for 746 yards and 7 TDs.
In his career at Alabama, he had 98 receptions for 1,716 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown.
Simply put, PFF’s analysis has a lot to do with who is at quarterback, and how teams played last season. If you look at this from that angle, one might go ahead and say that Jeudy has the better situation, so therefore he will have a better season, But that’s not true. A lot can change in a year. If there are two players who will be able to adapt and play to the best of the reps they are given, it’s Jeudy and Smith.
After all, the both of them split reps last year and were both also first round draft picks.
So maybe it’s too early to go ahead and try to guess who will have the better season. But then again, maybe it’s a question that can’t be answered at all, because there’s no doubt that both Jeudy and Ruggs will find ways to have a tremendous impact in their rookie seasons.