The Oakland Raiders’ final year in the Bay Area was filled with plenty of ups and downs, mainly due to injuries, and the result was a 7-9 record and another season watching the postseason from home.
The biggest revolivng door throughout the course of the year was the wide receiver corps, which saw changes even late into the season. Out of all the receivers that Derek Carr was asked to throw to in 2019, the most consistent turned out to be Hunter Renfrow.
The rookie from Clemson was expected to have an immediate impact after being drafted in the fifth round and winning a starting job out of training camp, but he ended up becoming a an even more crucial player to the offense than expected. Renfrow was Carr’s most reliable weapon on third down, consistently being able to make catches in space to move the chains.
Thanks to Renfrow’s work ethic, head coach Jon Gruden feels that he earned his role over the course of the season and will be a big piece to the offense moving forward, via Scott Blair of NBC Sports:
“We asked him to do a lot in the last few weeks and he delivered,” Gruden said. “He ran some routes [last week against the Denver Broncos] that were outstanding, but to answer your question, I just think he’s earned that status. When you practice the way he practices and you do the things that he does, you can’t help but try and feature him a little bit more and more.”
Renfrow more than proved he deserves to be featured in the Raiders’ offense moving forward. After surpassing 100 single-game receiving yards for the first time in Week 16, he did it again in the final game of the season.
Even more impressive is that Renfrow really began to shine after being sidelined with an injury. He suffered a broken rib in Week 12, which also caused a punctured lung. Many believed that Renfrow would miss the rest of the season but he ended up being out just under four weeks of action.
Of course, during those games Renfrow missed, the Raiders were losing and significantly hurt their chances at a playoff berth. It would have been interesting to see how Renfrow would have done at the height of NFL competition given how well he had been playing in the last two weeks. That being said, the Raiders have at least one receiver to build around heading into the 2020 offseason.
