The Las Vegas Raiders knew they needed to improve their wide receiving corps this offseason, and they were able to do exactly that in the draft.
The biggest addition, of course, is Henry Ruggs III as the Raiders drafted the speedster 12th overall, the top receiver off the board in what is believed to be a historic wide receiver class.
They also drafted another receiver in Bryan Edwards out of South Carolina in the third round though, and he has been drawing rave reviews as well so far.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr recently had high praise for Edwards, comparing him to his former college teammate and one of the NFL’s best in Davante Adams of the Green Bay Packers, via Kyle Martin of Raiders.com:
“Bryan is a very violent route runner and that’s a good thing,” Carr told reporters Tuesday. “He’s very violent, he’s very aggressive in his cuts, he reminds me — when the ball is in the air — of [Green Bay Packers wide receiver] Davante [Adams], great ball skills.”
A possession-type receiver like Edwards is something the Raiders have lacked in recent years, and although Ruggs is very talented, he isn’t that either.
Because of that, Edwards is expected to get an opportunity to see the field right away for the Raiders in his rookie season. Carr has seen the film and what he can be on a field, and the first thing he wondered is why Edwards was not a first-round pick:
“[Edwards] reminds me of that kind of guy, someone who can not only use his physicalness in the route, but also when the ball is in the air,” Carr added. “Some of those catches you watch him run, he runs a double post, he runs a fade against Tennessee, he runs a double post at home in South Carolina. Some of these things I watched him do on film before the draft, you could tell this dude is a freak talent, like, ‘Why is he not talked about in the first round?'”
In addition to Ruggs and Edwards, the Raiders also added a veteran in Nelson Agholor in free agency to join a wide receiver group that already includes Tyrell Williams, Hunter Renfrow and Zay Jones.
That gives Carr plenty of weapons to work with in 2020, which should be a big factor on if the Raiders can return to the postseason.
