Henry Ruggs III Fantasy Football Outlook Could Include Disappointing Rookie Season With Raiders

With the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders took Henry Ruggs III as the first wide receiver off the board.

Even as a high draft pick, however, Ruggs could be fighting an uphill battle to be a relevant fantasy football option as a rookie in 2020.

Henry Ruggs III Fantasy Football Value

Taking a look back at how recent first-round wide receivers have performed, it's already not great for Ruggs' fantasy value. Only five first-round picks have eclipsed 1,000 yards in their rookie seasons over the last 10 years. Three of the five were top-10 picks.

Ruggs' college production also raises some red flags. He never even hit 800 receiving yards in a season at Alabama. Four of those five 1,000-yard rookies mentioned above had 1,000-plus yards in their final collegiate season, and the only exception topped 800 yards in all three NCAA seasons.

Ruggs, of course, possesses the kind of outlier speed that it could take to buck the trend. He averaged 17.5 yards per reception at Alabama, and he ran a blazing 4.27-second 40-yard dash.

Speedsters with production concerns don't have a great track record in the NFL, however, and Ruggs' collegiate stats have to concern fantasy football players.

There are also some question marks about the offense around him. Derek Carr and the Raiders didn't have any wide receiver rack up more than 800 yards in 2019, running the passing game through tight end Darren Waller. The Raiders also return their top four reception leaders from 2019, so there isn't necessarily going to be a ton of volume to go around immediately.

Ruggs certainly has the potential to re-shape this offense and blossom into a star at the NFL level, but he could have a tough time making that happen in his rookie season. Unless he really starts falling late in drafts, he is likely going to be a player to avoid in fantasy football in 2020.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.