Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow will take another step forward under McDaniels
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders got a breakout season from Hunter Renfrow in 2021, and under Josh McDaniels, he is only going to get better.
Last season, the breakout star of the offense for the Las Vegas Raiders was Hunter Renfrow, who hauled in 103 passes for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. Incredibly, Renfrow did a lot of his damage at a time when the Raiders we lacking playmakers, as we all know what happened to WR1 Henry Ruggs III.
Also, the Raiders were without Darren Waller for an extended period, and it was this fifth-round wideout out of Clemson who picked up the slack. Renfrow’s 103 catches are second to only Tim Brown in team history for a single-season as a wide receiver, with both men trailing Waller’s 107 receptions from a year ago.
Now, the fourth-year player will look to take his game to another level, and he certainly has the right head coach to do so. Josh McDaniels made stars out of guys like Wes Welker and Justin Edelman in New England, and Renfrow may be a better talent than both of those men.
In Edelman’s case, he played so well that some feel he should be enshrined in Canton, thanks to his gaudy statistics for the Patriots, as well as his work in the playoffs. In Renfrow, he gets another elite slot guy to mold into the best in the game.
Raiders need help at the WR spot in 2022
It is no big secret that the Raiders need help at the wide receiver spot, as our Nicholas Yacenko put together a solid piece detailing their issues head into the 2022 offseason. Coming back are only Renfrow and Bryan Edwards, a young wideout who has yet to prove he can play consistent football at the NFL level.
Zay Jones and DeSean Jackson are both entering free agency and could test the waters, so going after a wideout in the 2022 NFL Draft and free agency is paramount for this franchise this offseason.
The loss of Ruggs was a big one for the franchise, but Renfrow proved in 2021 that he could shoulder the load with multiple weapons out. At times, he is unguardable, and in McDaniels’s offense, he could be in for an even bigger campaign in 2022.