User:DylanElder/Henry Ruggs

Henry Ruggs III (born January 24, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was a three-sport athlete in high school and played college football at Alabama. Ruggs was the fastest player at the 2020 NFL combine, and he was selected by the Raiders in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early years
Ruggs was born on January 24, 1999 and grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. In the eighth grade, Ruggs was promoted to the varsity football team for the final two games of their season. He later attended Robert E. Lee High School. In high school, Ruggs did not play football until his junior year, and received his first scholarship offer after just his second game on the gridiron. As a senior, he had 38 catches for 639 yards and 20 total touchdowns over nine games. Of those 20 touchdowns, nine were catches, seven were rushes, three were passes, and one was a kick return. In addition to football, Ruggs played basketball and ran track in high school, and is 10.58-second 100 meter dash time broke the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s class 7A record. In 2017, 247Sports.com ranked Ruggs as the second best high school football player in Alabama. Ruggs received scholarship offers from over 20 colleges to play football, but ultimately committed to the University of Alabama.

College career
As a true freshman at Alabama in 2017, Ruggs had 12 receptions for 229 yards and six touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2018, he had 46 receptions for 741 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a junior in 2019, he had 40 receptions for 746 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. During his junior season, Ruggs was the team’s primary kick returner and averaged 23.8 yards per return. His 24 total career receiving touchdowns places him third on Alabama’s all-time leaderboard. On January 6, 2020, Ruggs announced that he would forgo his senior year and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.

Professional career
Ruggs ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine, which was the fastest time by any prospect by .08 seconds, and tied for the fourth-fastest ever at the event since electronic timing began in 1999. Ruggs' vertical jump measured 42-inches, which was tied for the second best mark among wide receivers at the 2020 combine. He was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, making him the first wide receiver taken. This selection made Ruggs the first ever draft pick of the Las Vegas Raiders after their move from Oakland earlier in the 2020 offseason. Ruggs was the Raiders’ second consecutive first round pick of a player from the University of Alabama, joining 2019 first round running back Josh Jacobs. On July 21, 2020, the Raiders and Ruggs agreed to terms on a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $16.67 million, with a team option for a fifth-year.

Personal life
Ruggs credits his late friend Roderic Scott with encouraging him to play football in high school. Scott died in a car accident at 17 years of age, and Ruggs honors him with a three-fingered salute after every touchdown because Scott wore number 3 on the football field. Ruggs’ brother Kevontae played college football for Ole Miss in 2018 before transferring to Eastern Mississippi Community College in 2019. In April of 2020, Henry Ruggs partnered with Three Square, a southern Nevada food bank, to donate meals to those in need because of the coronavirus pandemic. On May 7, 2020, Ruggs’ daughter was born.