Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR DJ Turner.
Prior to the season’s start, the Las Vegas Raiders chose DJ Turner over Keelan Cole on the active roster. Cole was eventually brought back due to Turner getting hurt earlier in the season. With Hunter Renfrow returning from injury recently, the Raiders chose Cole over Turner and cut the 25-year-old wide receiver.
Despite cutting him, Las Vegas does like him. Though he will no longer be on the active roster, the Raiders announced that they’re bringing Turner back on the practice squad.
We have signed WR DJ Turner to the practice squad and released WR Malik Turner from the practice squad.
To make room for Turner, the team cut wide receiver Malik Turner, who did not take a snap for the Raiders this season. It was a good move to bring back the former undrafted free agent. He hasn’t done any damage on the offense but he does add value to the special teams. He can return kicks and provide coverage. Turner has yet to make a catch during a regular season game but the Raiders clearly like what they’ve seen from him. He’s still young and can continue to develop down the road. There’s a good chance he’ll be back with the team past this season.
Raiders OC Talks Hunter Renfrow’s Role
Hunter Renfrow had a breakout year last season. He caught 103 passes for 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns. Thanks to those numbers, he was named to his first Pro Bowl. The Raiders decided to give him a contract extension in the offseason to reward him for his play. Unfortunately, he has not been a factor this year. He’s missed seven games with injury and has just 22 catches for 206 yards. Unless he’s about to have some big games down the stretch, he’s set to have the worst year of his career.
The Raiders would like to see him get more involved but it’s been difficult to figure out his role in the offense due to the fact he hasn’t been playing. Offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi is hoping to further define Renfrow’s role in the coming weeks.
“I mean, Hunter obviously had some production early in the year, and then had a big third down catch on Sunday,” Lombardi said Tuesday. “Again, at finding his role, your role is what you make it, right? So, obviously not being out there for majority of the season. it’s tough to kind of define your role. So, I think he’s still in that process, and hopefully this week, and the following couple of weeks, we can kind of grow each week, and make it more defined.”
Raiders Offense Continues to Underwhelm
Everybody knew going into this season that the Raiders had issues on defense. They simply didn’t have enough talent to be a great unit. However, everybody agreed that the offense should be elite. That hasn’t ended up being the case. The Raiders are 11th in yards per game and 10th in points per game. Those are solid numbers but not nearly as good as many expected.
Much of that has been due to injuries but even when the team has had Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Renfrow, the results haven’t been impressive. Time is running out this season for the team to figure things out on offense but they have to start showing some consistency in the coming weeks.