Ciimini's at it again. In an article today about Ruggs (posted below), he ends the article with this quip: https://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-...fl-drafts-top-wideouts-unless-henry-ruggs-iii Jets could wait on NFL draft's top wideouts unless ... Henry Ruggs III? Rich Cimini ESPN Staff Writer New York Jets coach Adam Gase played wide receiver in high school, cut his teeth in the NFL as a receivers coach and was surrounded by very good receivers in most of his previous coaching stops. The position is important to him, so you have to believe he gets a bit freaked out when he looks at his current depth chart -- not a single player with more than 900 receiving yards in a season. All of which makes this an S.O.S. NFL draft for the Jets -- "Save Our Sam." The pressure is on general manager Joe Douglas to bring in a day one contributor for quarterback Sam Darnold, who will have little chance to succeed with the current supporting cast. Douglas will draft a receiver, count on it. The questions are: When? How many? With the 11th overall pick, the Jets could have their choice of any wideout in the draft, but the sense around the league is they are leaning toward an offensive tackle. The rebuilt line still needs an anchor, a long-term bodyguard for Darnold, but there are some in the scouting community who believe the best way to help a young quarterback is to give him an elite receiver. It sets up a fascinating decision: Go big or go fast? Former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, said the Jets should select a tackle at No. 11 because of the way the draft stacks up in terms of value. "I would probably take a tackle because I think you're going to go into the second round and get a good wide receiver," he said. "... You won't get the same type of offensive linemen, value wise." In my opinion, the prudent play is to go with a tackle, but what if three of the top four tackles are gone (a very possible scenario)? If the choice is between all the receivers and Georgia's Andrew Thomas, regarded by some evaluators as the fourth-best tackle, the Jets should strongly consider Alabama burner Henry Ruggs III, two personnel executives said. Because of his rare speed (4.27 in the 40-yard dash), Ruggs has a chance to be special. He's not an all-speed, no-catch, one-trick pony, a la Darrius Heyward-Bey. Ruggs is a legit receiver who dropped one pass last season and can run the entire route tree. His hands measured 10 1/8 inches, bigger than any of the top wideouts in the draft. His numbers (40 catches, 746 yards, seven touchdowns) don't jump off the stat sheet, but he had to share the ball with a lot of talented teammates, including receiver Jerry Jeudy. Ruggs averaged an impressive 10.5 yards after the catch, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Douglas has talked about adding dynamic players to the offense, and they don't get more dynamic than Ruggs, who also is said to be one of the most competitive players in the Alabama program. That, too, is a trait that Douglas covets. "I love Ruggs," one personnel executive said. "He has a chance to be a real difference-maker." The other executive said: "He's very unique. This dude is fast, a flat-out burner. He's physically and mentally tough, and he's more than just a vertical receiver." The Jets' scouts have been smitten with Ruggs and Jeudy since the fall, I'm told. They've been showing a lot of late interest in Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb, who tore up the defensively challenged Big 12 Conference. What separates Ruggs, some believe, is his Tyreek Hill-like speed. Ruggs and recently signed Breshad Perriman would form one of the fastest tandems in the league. For now, Perriman is the Jets' WR1, and that can't be comforting because he hasn't parlayed his speed into production. He has had only three 100-yard games in five years, and all three came last December for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also on the outside are Vyncint Smith (22 career catches) and Josh Doctson, who, like Perriman, is another first-round disappointment. Douglas talked them up in a recent conference call with reporters, but he's not fooling anyone. The Jets are all set in the slot with Jamison Crowder. Maybe Gase could adjust and feature the tight ends in the passing game. It's worth noting Darnold posted the league's second-highest passer rating (125.5) when targeting tight ends, albeit in a relatively small sample size -- 42-for-56, 439 yards, six touchdowns and one interception, per ESPN Stats & Information research. The Jets should be able to find a quality wideout in the second round. In his latest mock, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projects 12 receivers in the first two rounds, which would tie the record set in 2014. Baylor's Denzel Mims, Clemson's Tee Higgins, USC's Michael Pittman Jr., TCU's Jalen Reagor and Colorado's Laviska Shenault Jr. are second-round possibilities. Third-round options could be South Carolina's Bryan Edwards and Florida's Van Jefferson, an elite route runner with underrated speed. He was the fastest player at the Senior Bowl, based on data collected from microchip technology. He's the son of Jets receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. "A really phenomenal group of wideouts," NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. It should be like shooting fish in a barrel, except the Jets have a history of missing the barrel. The last receiver they drafted who made the Pro Bowl for them was Keyshawn Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick in 1996.
Cimini may claim it should be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel but then again, consider the source: that is, who's Rich Cimini? It's simple: does Douglas go "playmaker weapon for Sam" by grabbing one of the big 3 WRs (Jeudy/Lamb/Ruggs) and grab an available OT later (e.g. Jones/Wanogho)? - or - does Douglas go "protection for Sam" and grab one of the big 4 OTs (Wurfs/Wills/Becton/Thomas) and grab an available WR later (e.g. Higgins/Aiyuk/Pittman)? .
i'm not a college expert, but which of the top receivers are best suited for playing at least half their games in crap conditions, wind cold whatever in NY, Buff, NE. Isn't Lamb the YAC-guy? I would think we want someone more like that under OUR circumstances
It seems to me Ruggs type guys usually underperform in the NFL with the exception of Tyreek. We don't have Mahomes and we don't have Andy Reid so he won't work for us.
The recent trend in smoke screens/reporting is that the guy everybody is talking about in a contested situation is not the guy taken unless everybody is still talking about him the day of the draft. It's normal to have a huge hype cloud around people several days out but when that cloud just won't go away it means something. Baker Mayfield is the obvious example here however OBJ was an early indicator of the trend.
