TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Opposing secondaries beware — Henry Ruggs III has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
Earlier this month, Ruggs turned heads by reportedly recording a 4.25 time in the 40-yard dash during Alabama’s Junior Pro Day. That mark would have topped this year’s NFL Combine and is just a hair off of the event’s record of 4.22 set by Cincinnati Bengals receiver John Ross in 2017.
Still, Ruggs isn’t satisfied.
“I actually was kind of upset after I ran because I didn’t feel like I had a good start,” Ruggs said. “But after they told me the numbers I was like, ‘I still feel like I can do better.’”
By now, Ruggs’ speed shouldn’t come as a surprise. The junior receiver has already posted Alabama’s fastest in-game speed when he was clocked at 23 miles per hour by the Catapult Sports GPS underneath his jersey. The Montgomery, Ala., native also broke the state’s Class 7A 100-meter dash record with a 10.58 time during the state finals.
While those times are nice, Ruggs is more concerned with how they translate into his game. Part of that comes with finding a balance of when to harness his speed in order to run crisper routes.
“Not trying to play at my top speed the entire game,” Ruggs said. “I feel like that can be one of my best assets as a player, as a receiver, my quickness and my long-field speed. I’m trying to play consistently at that 4.2 and do everything at that level.”
Ruggs said improving the technical parts of his game has been one of the main things he’s worked on with receivers coach Holman Wiggins, who joined Alabama in January after spending the past three seasons at Virginia Tech. According to Ruggs, Wiggins is someone Alabama’s receivers “clicked with right off the bat” as the first-year assistant routinely calls early meetings before workouts to build a relationship and trust with the unit.
“He kind of works with everybody,” Ruggs said. “He’ll tell you individual stuff. So mine is, once again, being more technical and that’s just something I’ve always been working on.”
Last year, Ruggs finished second on the team in receptions (46) and receiving touchdowns (11) while finishing third with 741 receiving yards. Along with his speed, he’s looking to improve on those numbers as well.
After turning heads earlier this offseason, Ruggs will have his first opportunity to put his speed to the test in a game-like setting as Alabama holds its first spring scrimmage Saturday at 1 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“We always want to compete, and seeing as how practice isn’t a scrimmage, you don’t really have live periods moving the ball and things like that,” Ruggs said. “But once you have that scrimmage then you actually see where the team is and what kind of competitors we have.”
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