If Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III beats the Eagles deep Sunday at Allegiant Stadium (4:05 p.m., FOX TV, WIP 94.1-FM), it’s because someone didn’t listen. Eagles rookie DeVonta Smith, a trusted friend of Ruggs at Alabama, spent the week warning his teammates to be prepared for the young man who could be the NFL’s fastest player.
“If I see him in a bunch formation I’m hollering at my guys,” Smith said with a smile. “If it’s a bunch formation he runs post.”
The “bunch” basically is a formation where three receivers line up in a mini wedge on one side of the ball making it impossible for defenders to cover them all man-to-man. All it takes to separate from that pack is a tenth of a second or so. Especially for a guy like Ruggs, who has two speeds – here he comes and there he goes.
It takes an exotic man/zone scheme and sometimes a hold to keep players like Ruggs from getting away. The Eagles have had plenty of time to work on their hack, having nine days to figure it out.
No Eagles player knows Ruggs quite like Smith, who competed daily with him and Crimson Tide first-round receiving talents Jaylen Waddle and Jerry Jeudy. Routes, catches, drops and “even the GPS tracking” numbers were counted, and that obviously made those talents what they are now.
Off the field Smith and Ruggs were clean living, considerate roomies who didn’t need to scream at each other to pick up the dirty clothes. When they weren’t studying football, playing NFL 2K or other video games, according to Smith, they were talking about life and its challenges.
“We’ve both had our own things going on,” Smith said. “And I was the person that he came and talked to, and he was the person I talked to. It was us just knowing each other’s backgrounds.”
Ruggs still is as explosive as ever despite the switch in play callers in Vegas from Jon Gruden, who stepped down as head coach in the wake of an email scandal, the play-calling duties landing now with offensive coordinator Greg Olson. It’s the first time Olson has called plays in five years, the latter with Blake Bortles and the 3-13 Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ruggs and Derek Carr, who through six games is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league, got Olson and interim head coach Rich Bisaccia started on the right foot last week. The duo hooked up on a 48-yard scoring reception out of the “bunch” to stake the Raiders to the early lead in a 34-24 win over the Denver Broncos.
All of Ruggs’ four touchdowns are 40 or more-yards. The score last Sunday marked the first time the Raiders tallied on their opening possession since Week 11 of last year.
Smith leads the Eagles with 27 receptions worth 345 yards and one score. He hasn’t gotten much help from Jalen Reagor, the 2020 first-rounder averaging just 8.2 yards on 17 catches. But Quez Watkins has game, the second-year talent averaging 19.4 yards on 16 grabs.
Then there is Jalen Hurts who, for whatever it’s worth, is among only two quarterbacks to produce 2,000 or more passing yards and 500 or more rushing yards in their first 10 starts. The money stat obviously is that Hurts is just 3-7 as the starter in that time, including 2-4 this season. He has thrown eight touchdowns and rushed for a team-leading five scores this season.
Hurts, Josh Allen, Tom Brady and Kyler Murray are the only quarterbacks with 12 or more TDs and zero giveaways in the red zone this season. Hurts’ passer rating in the red zone is 116.8. That’s seventh overall in the league but light years away from his 88.6 overall rating. It’s the other 80 yards where Hurts has much more trouble moving the chains.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni spent time following the 28-22 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs two Thursdays ago tweaking the playbook to get more out of Hurts, as well as his team. The boss is feeling the urgency after four losses in his first six games.
“Criticism that comes with a 2-4 start, and I accept that criticism,” Sirianni said. “We want to play better, and we want to get wins on the board. And the criticism is granted. And so, again, I’m doing everything I can do to fix this because I want to be successful, and I want this team to be successful.”
Look for the Eagles to attack the interior of the Raiders’ defense with the run game. With Lane Johnson returning to right tackle and Jordan Mailata back on the left side, the Eagles should be able to make creases for Miles Sanders. Johnson was sidelined dealing with mental health issues.
Hurts also has tight end Dallas Goedert back in the lineup after a one-game absence due to COVID. It shouldn’t take long for them to get back in a rhythm.
Putting the heat on Carr is a must as the Raiders have a league-low four giveaways. All of those are interceptions, and the Eagles rank among the league leaders with five picks, two by Darius Slay. First and foremost, though, the Eagles need to stop Ruggs in the bunch.
“The bunch formation thing, I told Slay about it,” Smith said. “And he’s like, ‘yeah, I’ve seen that.’”
