With The First Pick
Fansided

Alabama Football producing three top wide receiver prospects in 2020 NFL Draft

By Cory Kinnan

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 03: Henry Ruggs III #11 and Irv Smith Jr. #82 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate Ruggs touchdown in the first quarter of their game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 03, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 03: Henry Ruggs III #11 and Irv Smith Jr. #82 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate Ruggs touchdown in the first quarter of their game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 03, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 14: Henry Ruggs III #11 of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after a touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 14: Henry Ruggs III #11 of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after a touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

11

Henry Ruggs WR

Alabama Crimson Tide Football
Alabama Crimson Tide Football /

Scouting Report

Next up on the list is Henry Ruggs, the 6-0, 190 pound speed demon for the Crimson Tide. While he does not possess the agility and footwork of Jeudy, some NFL teams are going to fall in love with his natural born speed and ball skills down the field. He may not be as overall well-rounded as his receiving counterpart, but if the draft were today, Ruggs is likely to be a first round pick.

With 29 catches, 581 yards receiving, and 6 receiving touchdowns this season, Ruggs is averaging an astounding 20 yards per reception from Tua in 2019. On his career to this point, Ruggs has tallied a total of 87 catches for 1,551 yards receiving and 23 touchdowns; he is out-pacing his career average of 17.8 yards per catch this season.

Ruggs, however, does have his deficiencies as he is not the top rated receiver in this class. He appears to lack the strength and hand usage on film to beat press coverage on a consistent basis, and is easily knocked off his path as he works across the field. His route tree ran at Alabama is a fairly limited one as well as he is either running deep (9), a slant (2) on a run-pass option, or a drag crosser over the middle of the field.

If an NFL team is looking for a big-play threat with good ball skills and feels like a limited route tree is not an issue, then Ruggs will easily be a first round pick just as Marquise Brown was to the Baltimore Ravens a year ago. He is far from perfect, but Ruggs is a touchdown waiting to happen.

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