Henry Ruggs III would ‘love’ the chance to play for KC Chiefs

After a rumor spread that the Kansas City Chiefs might be interested in trading up for Henry Ruggs III if he falls, the wideout says he’d “love” the opportunity.

The challenge of dealing with the Kansas City Chiefs overall speed on offense is already something that keeps defensive coordinators up at night in the NFL. If the Chiefs were to somehow be able to add Henry Ruggs III, the best deep threat from the 2020 NFL Draft, to the mix, the task would suddenly seem insurmountable.

The Chiefs offense put up historic numbers in 2018 and followed that performance up with a Super Bowl win and a far more balanced effort despite numerous injuries to several key players—including wide receiver Tyreek Hill, left tackle Eric Fisher, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In 2020, the Chiefs have returned 20 of 22 starters from the Super Bowl roster but adding Ruggs would only enhance an already championship product.

Why would the Chiefs focus on such an addition? In a recent column, Peter King wrote the draft’s “craziest rumor” involved the Chiefs being interested in Ruggs if he were to fall into the bottom third of the first round. USA Today’s Mackenzie Salmon recently sat down with Ruggs to ask him a few questions, including what the Alabama wide receiver thought of King’s column.

“That’s definitely something that opened my eyes,” he said.

“If I was to get that chance, of course I would love it to be surrounded by other speedy guys that just makes you feel faster. It just makes you feel faster when you’re around guys who have speed like that. The talent that they have over there is unreal.”

Ruggs is generally considered one of the draft’s top three players at wide receiver, by far the position considered the deepest in the 2020 NFL Draft. Along with Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy, his teammate at Alabama, and CeeDee Lamb, out of Oklahoma, are the other players who will be the first wideouts off the board. All three wide receivers are likely going to be off the board within the first half of the first round. The Chiefs, meanwhile, won’t pick until the last overall selection—at No. 32 overall.

While the majority of pre-draft talk about Ruggs concerns his elite speed, the Bama product says he’s being underrated with that description. If a team like the Chiefs were to add him, Ruggs says he’d bring the complete package to the team—not just another sub 4.4 option on offense.

“A lot of guys try to say that i’m just a speedy guy or I only can run or do this or do that and that I’m not a complete guy. But I think I’m a complete receiver and my tape shows it,” he said.

Still Ruggs doesn’t shy away from compliments about his speed. When Salmon asks him who would win in a race between him and Tyreek Hill, he laughed and said, “Of course, I’m gonna say me, but that’s only…  if we can line up, that’s the only time we can see it.”

The draft’s first round gets underway on Thursday, April 23.