Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow (13) makes his way to the field prior to an NFL football game against the Washington Football Team at Allegiant Stadium Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021.
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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Josh McDaniels knows how to tailor an offense toward the slot receiver. Wes Welker and Julian Edelman would know that better than anyone, from their time in New England.
Just three years into his NFL career, Hunter Renfrow appears to be on that future Hall-of-Famer trajectory. If there’s one player that could benefit the most from the new Raiders coach’s offensive scheme, it’s the player that is coming off his first 100-reception, 1,000-yard season of his career.
“I think coach McDaniels is very good at teaching the details of [being a slot receiver],” Renfrow said. “It’s a lot of work, and he puts a lot on them. I think you get rewarded if you buy in to what he has to say.”
Slot receivers tend to be a reliable target for quarterbacks in need of sure yardage. Renfrow was that beacon of consistency last season. He had 12 games of at least five receptions last season, finishing with 103 catches and making his first Pro Bowl in 2021.
Renfrow coming close to the greatness of others' in his position, such as Welker and Edelman, would be great for the Raiders.
Welker, a two-time All-Pro receiver, had his breakout season under McDaniels in 2007, catching a then-career-high 112 passes for 1,175 yards. He picked up 1,121 yards combined his previous two seasons in Miami and went on to have four more 1,000-yard seasons following that.
A former college quarterback at Kent State, Edelman had three 1,000-yard seasons under McDaniels in New England.
"They're really good players," Renfrow said. "They've had some good receivers in the past. Some of it is just being where you need to be and be consistent."
The Raiders’ offense eclipsed 400 total yards in five of the first seven games last season, even with Rich Bisaccia replacing Jon Gruden as head coach. Then came the car crash on Nov. 2 involving wide receiver Henry Ruggs III that killed a young woman and her dog. Ruggs is facing DUI and reckless driving charges that could result in years in prison if convicted.
On top of the glaring off-field distraction, the Raiders’ on-field production took a hit in the three weeks that followed with the offense averaging 14 points and 326 total yards.
Thanksgiving week against the Dallas Cowboys is when the offense turned around with Renfrow leading the charge. Renfrow eclipsed 100 yards the next three games, catching all but three of his 33 targets.
Renfrow became quarterback Derek Carr’s No. 1 receiver at the right time. With tight end Darren Waller missing all of last December with a knee injury, Renfrow was the reliable target in a group that still lacked a downfield threat.
The Raiders felt the limited offense had to be better after making the playoffs last season for the second time since 2002. That’s why Las Vegas chose McDaniels, the longtime offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, to be the next head coach. He coordinated a top-10 scoring offense in nine of his last 10 seasons with the Patriots.
Between Renfrow, Waller and the newly acquired Davante Adams, the Raiders have three players who have caught 100 passes in a season before.
“Two very, very unselfish guys,” Renfrow said, “but I think I’d say they put the team before themselves. That’s got to be a focus for all of us, that team success is far superior than individual success. It doesn’t matter if we have 50 catches this season apiece. As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters.”
The 123 catches Adams hauled in last season are enough of an eyebrow raiser to be worth adding to any offense. Of course, Adams benefitted from having Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback his entire eight-year career. The Raiders hope that same level can be reached with Adams and his former college quarterback at Fresno State.
“I could sit up here and tell you it’ll be great, and we go out there and it doesn’t work,” said Carr when asked how much Adams will open up the offense for Renfrow. “There’s a lot of hard work that needs to be done for that to be a successful thing.”
By adding Adams, the Raiders add another threat that defenses need to account for. According to Pro Football Focus, Adams was double covered/saw help coverage 26% of the time last season, the second highest rate in the league. Waller, at 21%, was in the top-20.
Either Adams or Waller will draw double teams on one side, while Renfrow could see more single coverage in the slot.
“Hunter is as shifty as can be,” said Waller, who said he could be “Rob Gronkowski gone wild” in this new offense. “If you have people trying to keep taking the top off Davante and whatever they try to do against me, Hunter is as good as anybody can get slipping in-between zones, making a linebacker or somebody in that area on him miss, I don’t think there’s many people that are better than him at doing that.
“I feel like people like Davante and I help him to just be able to take over underneath and have a field day.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
