© Robert Deutsch | 2020 Feb 2
At this point the top three receivers in the upcoming draft have been discussed ad nauseam, but there is yet to be a consensus as to which would fit best in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Mel Kiper’s latest mock revealed his rankings for the 49ers, who he believes have the receivers ranked like most everybody else — 1. Jerry Jeudy, 2. CeeDee Lamb, 3. Henry Ruggs III — on their board. That’s not the case for Bleacher Report’s draft expert Matt Miller, who has the same rankings as Kiper from on overall standpoint, but believes that Shanahan’s list is an inverse of that.
“I have Jerry Jeudy ranked the highest, I think he might actually be the worst fit in this offense,” Miller said. “I’m not saying he’d be a bad fit, but if I had my pick for this offense I’d want Henry Ruggs because you want someone who can stretch the field vertically, who can open things up underneath for George Kittle, Deebo Samuel.
“Deebo is so good at yards after catch…he’s not necessarily a deep threat. You talk about levels with wide receiver play. You want a level one — those underneath routes, you want a level two and then you want a level three. Henry Ruggs is an immediate level three. Even when he doesn’t catch the ball, that speed over the top is going to draw the attention of safeties. That’s going to open things up for Kittle, open things up for Deebo, open things up for the run game, which is already dominant.”
Miller believes in any other draft Ruggs would be a consensus No. 1 at the position. Ruggs now famously ran a 4.27 40-yard-dash at the NFL Combine, and Kyle Shanahan has been known throughout his career to value speed on offense.
“I think with Ruggs the fit is just really, really nice.”
Listen to the interview below.