2020 WR Draft Thread

[RavensMania]

Would anyone be opposed to drafting Ruggs even if we already have Brown. I mean that would be a fast ass offense

Would also give us an elite return man which I think is a very underrated need on this team..

another speed threat on the other side would be great.

 

[Ravensnation5220]

another speed threat on the other side would be great.

I think itd be great honestly. Crossing routes would be beyond deadly and with our TEs we could maybe finally implement WR screens and tunnel screens to get these guys in space

 

[rossihunter2]

One in first two rounds, the others in round 3 or 4

i guess in that case it depends who the 2nd guy is - if its somebody who's clearly miles better than any other prospect then yes but id be hesitant to advocate for double-dipping just because

and tbf double-dipping hasnt gone great for us recently except when we did it at TE in 2018

 

[rossihunter2]

Would anyone be opposed to drafting Ruggs even if we already have Brown. I mean that would be a fast ass offense

Would also give us an elite return man which I think is a very underrated need on this team..

if ruggs got anywhere near us we better be running as fast as he can run to get his name announced as a raven - absolute no brainer if he makes it

unfortunately i think he's already a top 15 pick and if he breaks the 40 record at the combine like i expect he will i could see him going top 10

 

[Charm City]

Would anyone be opposed to drafting Ruggs even if we already have Brown. I mean that would be a fast ass offense

Would also give us an elite return man which I think is a very underrated need on this team..

Ruggs would be good, but I think we need more of an intermediate type player, someone who operates in that space between the LB and safety. In the Tenn game they stopped the run because they stacked the box and committed 3+ to chase the ball on the run side. Having an intermediate type player who can navigate through that mess on a play action would be ideal for me.

 

[allblackraven]

Ruggs would be good, but I think we need more of an intermediate type player, someone who operates in that space between the LB and safety. In the Tenn game they stopped the run because they stacked the box and committed 3+ to chase the ball on the run side. Having an intermediate type player who can navigate through that mess on a play action would be ideal for me.

At the same time, another major vertical threat would open space in the middle for Snead.

 

[Grim]

Given how good this class as you guys mention, would you guys be cool if we double-dipped? I'm don't want to rely on us banking on Boykin's development and Snead is what he is.

Maybe, depends on who else is there, what positions are there, what WR it is, and what WR we’ve already taken. I’m not opposed to going WR back to back with our first two picks if we’re talking AJ green & Antonio Brown lol

depends what we do in free agency but im not automatically against it - also depends what you mean by double-dip - if you mean 2 guys fairly high then that might not be possible given we likely only have 3 picks in the first 3 rounds but if you mean at all then id say its fairly likely - matt miller has i think 40 draftable wrs right now so far which would far exceed almost any year in nfl draft history for number of wrs drafted (not sure if 2014 is the most but it had 33 wrs drafted)

I’d double dip if they’re really good. That said, I agree that it depends on a lot of stuff as of yet undetermined.

Would anyone be opposed to drafting Ruggs even if we already have Brown. I mean that would be a fast ass offense

Would also give us an elite return man which I think is a very underrated need on this team..

I would definitely like him here and we need a returner

i guess in that case it depends who the 2nd guy is - if its somebody who's clearly miles better than any other prospect then yes but id be hesitant to advocate for double-dipping just because

and tbf double-dipping hasnt gone great for us recently except when we did it at TE in 2018

That’s a good point, and even then at TE we had some doubts until this year. Double dipping is typically an eh thing and I usually stay away unless they’re exceptional talents at both spots.

 

[Charm City]

At the same time, another major vertical threat would open space in the middle for Snead.

Yeah it seems like its the chicken or the egg. I've kind of soured on snead though. He has very little run after the catch ability

 

[rossihunter2]

Ruggs would be good, but I think we need more of an intermediate type player, someone who operates in that space between the LB and safety. In the Tenn game they stopped the run because they stacked the box and committed 3+ to chase the ball on the run side. Having an intermediate type player who can navigate through that mess on a play action would be ideal for me.

saying that - if you have 2 vertical threats they cant play that many guys in the box or their corners are left on an island against guys who are absolute speed demons - and hollywood's a good route runner too so far (and ruggs definitely has the ability to develop as a route runner)

and having speed doesnt mean you cant work underneath - hollywood has been pretty decent finding space in the zone this year

and ruggs isnt tall but he plays big - really good on jump balls etc. was surprisingly good in the redzone for someone who's only 6'0" - but he's also an outrun-the-angle kind of quick that's rare - and speed does crazy things to corners

this is all probably moot because i think he's getting picked in the top 10 anyway

but in general there's nothing that prohibits a quick receiver from being good underneath or in the intermediate game

 

[RavensMania]

If we don't trade down then we are going to make a splash, because there is no way we pick at 28.

 

[allblackraven]

If we don't trade down then we are going to make a splash, because there is no way we pick at 28.

That would depend on who's left on the board at that point.

 

[Charm City]

saying that - if you have 2 vertical threats they cant play that many guys in the box or their corners are left on an island against guys who are absolute speed demons - and hollywood's a good route runner too so far (and ruggs definitely has the ability to develop as a route runner)

and having speed doesnt mean you cant work underneath - hollywood has been pretty decent finding space in the zone this year

and ruggs isnt tall but he plays big - really good on jump balls etc. was surprisingly good in the redzone for someone who's only 6'0" - but he's also an outrun-the-angle kind of quick that's rare - and speed does crazy things to corners

this is all probably moot because i think he's getting picked in the top 10 anyway

but in general there's nothing that prohibits a quick receiver from being good underneath or in the intermediate game

I haven't watched much of his tape which is why I suggested we need an intermediate guy. If he is that good at running routes then by all means we should take him, but if Ross jumped into the top 10 after his combine I doubt Ruggs makes it past 20, as you stated.

 

[rossihunter2]

I haven't watched much of his tape which is why I suggested we need an intermediate guy. If he is that good at running routes then by all means we should take him, but if Ross jumped into the top 10 after his combine I doubt Ruggs makes it past 20, as you stated.

oh he's certainly not a polished route runner at all but he's so explosive that there's nothing to preclude him from expanding his route tree and he's not as raw as other burners have been in the past

but the john ross point is a great one - if john ross jumped into the top 10, i would be very surprised if ruggs didnt also - i think he's a far better prospect and is probably even more explosive

 

[Edgar]

well so far i'd say he's pretty inconsistent - liked the bama tape, didnt like the missouri tape - should be a lot more physical than he is at the catch point and doesnt use his length well but uses his body well after the catch - inconsistent releasing off the snap - might struggle against press because of how upright he is but his height/weight/speed traits make him interesting - shows some decent understanding of how to set up corners vs off coverage with his stem and he has decent ability through contact at the top of his routes but not so great working laterally - i saw a couple of routes i really liked coming out of the slot where he had more space to use - was hard done by by awful qb play but still not sure he gets enough separation at the college level that it will translate well to the nfl necessarily

but honestly i think the boykin comp is a good one because he looks very similar as a prospect to me - not sure about the "more" bit though

watching more I take your point concerning his ability to separate at the next level. he's neither particularly fast or particularly quick and though he does have more route diversity than Boykin (not to beat that comp into the ground), he almost needs to be a first read and win with leverage and body one on one. he's still really good after the catch and intriguing as a possession guy but I'm perhaps a bit high on him to call him a #2 type out of the gate.

 

[Sandtown]

Yeah it seems like its the chicken or the egg. I've kind of soured on snead though. He has very little run after the catch ability

Snead isn't a speedy wide receiver but in 2018 he forced 14 missed tackles which was tied for the fifth most in league according PFF. He didn't come close to that number in 2019 but that's not his fault. Snead really should have had 800 + receiving yards but The Ravens offense wasn't really all that wide receiver friendly outside of Marqise Brown. Honestly Greg Roman offense never been wide receiver friendly even though his passing concepts aren't bad. Ravens have to find ways to advance their passing game and that would start with adding more speed to their wide receiver group but have to hope David Culley can help as well.

 

[rossihunter2]

watching more I take your point concerning his ability to separate at the next level. he's neither particularly fast or particularly quick and though he does have more route diversity than Boykin (not to beat that comp into the ground), he almost needs to be a first read and win with leverage and body one on one. he's still really good after the catch and intriguing as a possession guy but I'm perhaps a bit high on him to call him a #2 type out of the gate.

he's absolutely someone who will be good with the ball in his hands and certainly has enough tools that he might become successful but for a guy wit his size there's a few things that worry me about him as a prospect:
1) really inconsistent catching the ball, while you can blame terrible service, at the pro level he's going to have to make those sorts of passes stick because the windows are tighter and the ball comes out quicker
2) not great at the catch point in terms of physicality which given he doesnt have the pure dynamism to separate with suddenness is going to be crucial to him and
3) the inconsistent ability to separate

the above is why id be nervous about him as the 1st read and winning leverage - because he's not particularly strong at the catch point and doesnt use his body in the way you'd hope a bigger guy would

but he's definitely someone who's really interesting and physical after the catch

honestly with our track record i would not expect him to come in and make an impact

EDIT: i also wanted to put this out there about boykin - while edwards runs more various routes etc. looking back at boykin's college tape after we drafted him there were really cool nuances to the way he ran routes that gave/gives you real hope that he can become a technician as a big receiver as a route runner and im not seeing those same route running skills from edwards

 

[Davesta]

Came across a WR that really stands out to me, Brandon Aiyuk from Arizona State. Big plays just seem to happen every time the ball touches his hands. He's such a good runner with athleticism and some power. Plus he seems to know how to work the middle of the field, and how to just create separate. His tape really reminds me of Deebo Samuels. Also he would be an instant fix to our punt and kick return teams.

Oh man. Just watched some Aiyuk tape. He’s explosive. I think he’s my late 2nd round crush atm

 

[BloodRaven]

Ruggs would be good, but I think we need more of an intermediate type player, someone who operates in that space between the LB and safety. In the Tenn game they stopped the run because they stacked the box and committed 3+ to chase the ball on the run side. Having an intermediate type player who can navigate through that mess on a play action would be ideal for me.

Whats the opinion here on Shenault Jr? not the best route runner but he can work the middle and dominate the catch point, obviously has the juice to go vertical as well but i think he could be a good complement to what Hollywood offers.

 

[rossihunter2]

Whats the opinion here on Shenault Jr? not the best route runner but he can work the middle and dominate the catch point, obviously has the juice to go vertical as well but i think he could be a good complement to what Hollywood offers.

Honestly really don’t like shenault at all - don’t see what the hype’s about - he’s not helped by the qb play but I don’t see much separation or tools that would allow him to separate well in the nfl - I’m seeing some draftniks with 1st round grades and I’ve got a 3rd round grade on him

 

[RavensMania]

Whats the opinion here on Shenault Jr? not the best route runner but he can work the middle and dominate the catch point, obviously has the juice to go vertical as well but i think he could be a good complement to what Hollywood offers.

he's definitely a beast with the ball in his hands, but I can't say I've watched any film to this point. That's only based on games watched.