Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow.
The Las Vegas Raiders escaped Week 1 against the Denver Broncos with a 17-16 victory but it was far from a perfect game. The passing game lacked versatility as Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers were the only wide receivers to see more than one target come their way.
Hunter Renfrow, who has a cap hit of $13.1 million this season, didn’t register a single target all game. He’s coming off a career-worst year in 2022 where 36 catches for 330 yards. However, he still saw a target in every game he played so 2023 is off to a concerning start.
Head coach Josh McDaniels doesn’t want too much read into Renfrow’s lack of targets. He just chalked it up to how the game was played.
“There are games where certain things happen and the ball gets targeted to different guys differently, and we’re trying to tell our quarterback to read the defense and then try to go to the best spot with the ball as opposed to read the defense and go to one guy with the ball,” McDaniels said of Renfrow during his September 11 media availability. “Some games that might mean the player in the slot gets 10 or 12 targets. Some games it might mean two or three, and yesterday was just one of those ones where the game played out a certain way, and coverage dictated the ball went elsewhere.”
The Raiders have a new quarterback this year in Jimmy Garoppolo so he could still be trying to get in sync with Renfrow. Regardless, the team needs to figure out how to get him involved as he’s making too much money to not have a single pass come his way.
Davante Adams Praises Jimmy Garoppolo
While he didn’t spread the ball around much, Jimmy Garoppolo had a solid Raiders debut. He completed 20-of-26 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown. However, the most impressive play he may have made with his legs. On third-and-seven late in the fourth quarter, Garoppolo scrambled and rushed for a first down that sealed the win for the Raiders.
Wide receiver Davante Adams was impressed with what he saw from the quarterback in their first game together.
“Jimmy’s a gamer,” Adams said in his September 10 postgame media availability. “It’s fun going out there playing with him. The way he commanded the huddle, his coolness and poise. He hit Jakobi over the middle with some guys in his face — showing that toughness and resolve after throwing a pick, that’s what you need from one of your leaders.”
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Jimmy Garoppolo Talks Win
The Jimmy Garoppolo signing was met with caution by the Raiders fan base back in free agency. He’s not the most dynamic quarterback in the NFL but he’s able to play winning football. That’s exactly what he showed in his Raiders debut. He acknowledged that it wasn’t the prettiest game the team could’ve played, he was happy with what he saw from his teammates.
“I thought a lot of guys stepped up today,” Garoppolo said in his September 10 postgame media availability. “It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t perfect by any means. But it’s a division game; we know it’s going to be tough. The guys just stuck with it for 60 minutes.”
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Raiders’ Josh McDaniels Explains Why Hunter Renfrow Had Zero Targets