Rookies Henry Ruggs, Bryan Edwards up for challenge

When the Raiders take the field in their season opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, two rookie wide receivers, Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards, will be in the starting lineup.

History has shown it is both unusual and not statistically productive to rely on such a tandem. It is hard enough getting top-line production from one such player, let alone two. Over the past decade, only eight wideouts topped 1,000 receiving yards in their first NFL season.

In fact, the last time the Raiders tried it in a season opener was 2009 with Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey, It was a rather forgettable experience. Murphy had four receptions for 87 yards and Heyward-Bey went catchless on four targets. On the season, the two finished with only 43 catches for 645 yards and five touchdowns.

You have to go all the way back to 2003 to Anquan Boldin and Bryant Johnson to find a truly noteworthy NFL rookie wide receiver tandem. They combined for 136 receptions for 1,815 yards and nine touchdowns that year for the Arizona Cardinals, but it was Boldin who did the bulk of the heavy lifting, with 101 catches, 1,377 yards and eight touchdowns.

Last year, the Baltimore Ravens featured two rookie receivers as starters for most of the season, with Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Miles Boykin combining for 59 catches, 782 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Prior to that, only two other teams over the last decade have started two rookie wide receivers. The Houston Texans in 2016 with Will Fuller and Braxton Miller and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014 with Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee.

Fuller and Miller combined for 62 catches for 834 yards. Hurns and Lee finished with 88 catches for 1,099 yards.

Into that uncertain world march the Raiders, and not necessarily by design. While the speedy Ruggs, the 12th pick overall out of Alabama, was slated to start from the get-go, the plan for Edwards was to bring the third-round pick out of South Carolina along at a more moderate pace. But two things happened to alter that approach.

First, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Edwards was an immediate hit in training camp as a big, physical target able to create separation with his surprising speed but also fight off defenders for the ball by using his size and power. Second, veteran Tyrell Williams was lost for the season with a torn labrum, which expedited Edwards’ ascent to a starting job.

As a result, the Raiders begin the season with the youngest starting wide receiver group in the NFL with Ruggs, Edwards and second-year slot receiver Hunter Renfrow.

And while there is an appreciation for the difficulties of the challenge they face, there is also confidence that the pairing of Ruggs and Edwards can flip the conventional script.

For one thing, both come from big-time programs in the SEC, the best conference in college football.

“We feel very good about both of those players,” Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “The game hasn’t been too big for them, a credit to their college coaches and college programs they came from. Their coaches prepared them very well in college for the next level.”

For another, neither seemed intimidated or uncomfortable throughout training camp. And their complementary skillsets should create a dynamic in which they enhance each other’s production.

“We work off each other very well,” Edwards said. “He’s a speed guy and I’m more of an in-between guy, a big body guy.”

That Ruggs and Edwards were groomed to perform on the big stage is important. Rookie starters or not, they are ready to roll.

“We know that’s a big role as starters as first-year players, but at the end of the day, it’s football,” Ruggs said. “We came here to play football. We both played in the SEC. I feel like we know what football is, and just come in and compete and play the game that we know how to play. It’ll speak for itself, our hard work.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.