Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow has gone a bit under the radar in terms of the impact he is capable of having for this Las Vegas Raiders offense. Injuries severely limited Renfrow last season, but the prior year he was a Pro Bowler who established himself as one of the best slot receivers in the NFL.
Coming into this season, much of the focus for the offense has been on new additions such as quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and rookie tight end Michael Mayer. Not to mention star receiver Davante Adams is looking to replicate his unbelievable performance from last season meaning Renfrow has slipped through the cracks a little bit.
But he is apparently standing out in training camp so far as Logan Reever of 8 News Now mentioned Renfrow looking as quick and explosive as ever as being one of the standout takeaways from a recent practice:
#Raiders Day 2 Takeaways W/ Rams:
Vegas D-line dominated nearly every snap
— Logan Reever (@loganreever) August 17, 2023
The slot receiver was also brought up by Garoppolo as well as being one of the main players working the middle of the field that makes things easier on him, via Mario Tovar of Raider Ramble:
“Hunt[er Renfrow] has been awesome man. He sees the field very well, makes it easy on me and is very decisive in his routes. But all those guys I mean him, DC [DeAndre Carter], tight ends even that work the slot, all those guys have been doing a good job. They give me easy targets so it makes my job a lot easier.”
For a quarterback like Garoppolo who isn’t the best deep ball thrower and does his best work in the intermediate areas over the middle of the field, someone like Renfrow could be his best friend. Obviously, Adams will be his main target, but Renfrow has proven invaluable with what he can bring to a team, and with those injuries behind him, he could be in for a big year.
The Raiders offense has so much potential, and Renfrow is a big part of that which some seem to have forgotten. But he is set to remind everyone this year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if ‘Third and Renfrow’ became a thing once again.
