Getty Hunter Renfrow of the Las Vegas Raiders.
When wide receiver Hunter Renfrow was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2019, Hunter Renfroe was already an established baseball player for the San Diego Padres. Now that Renfrow is an NFL Pro Bowler, he’s the bigger name of the two despite Renfroe being a professional athlete for a few years longer. Unfortunately for both of them, they still get confused for each other.
Renfroe is now a member of the Los Angeles Angels and his new team wants to make sure everybody knows who is. At a recent game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Angels made it clear on their jumbotron that Renfroe does not play for the Raiders.
Angel Stadium got jokes today
Renfroe ended up having a great game. He went 2-4 with a home run and three RBIs. With the NFL season still months away, he’ll be the more popular of the two for a while.
Will Renfrow Be on the Raiders When Season Starts?
Unfortunately for Renfrow, he has bigger concerns than his name. The Raiders have moved on from a number of notable veteran players this offseason and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were considering trading the wide receiver. Las Vegas added another slot receiver in Jakobi Meyers, which makes Renfrow more expendable. The former Pro Bowler had a disappointing debut season under head coach Josh McDaniels.
He missed seven games due to injury and only had 36 catches for 330 yards. This came after the team gave him a $32 million contract extension last offseason. McDaniels is known as a play-caller who likes to utilize slot receivers but didn’t seem to have a feel for how to use Renfrow. While Meyers does make Renfrow expandable, it appears the Raiders plan to keep him for now. McDaniels has fielded an offense with multiple slot receivers in the past. He may have big plans for utilizing both Meyers and Renfrow. It’s still possible the Raiders decide to go in another direction but it’s looking like the wide receiver will stay put for now.
Analyst Believes Renfrow & Meyers Fit Together
The Raiders clearly want to change the approach to the offense this offseason. They moved on from Darren Waller in large part so they could afford to sign Meyers. While the fit with Renfrow might be odd, Kevin Patra of NFL.com believes that the two could play well together.
“At first blush, the addition of Meyers seems odd, given his overlapping skill-set with Hunter Renfrow, but I think the duo can fit in Las Vegas,” Patra wrote. “Meyers played mostly from the slot but is proficient out wide, offering Josh McDaniels flexibility within the corps. The former Patriots receiver is adept over the middle, where new Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo does his best work, so Meyers should see a bevy of targets while in position to make plays. Trading tight end Darren Waller away also frees up space in the pass-catching pecking order. Davante Adams is the clear alpha and will remain the go-to receiver. But there is room for a No. 2 to eat. Given Renfrow’s regression last season due to injury and McDaniels’ apparent desire to import a player with similar skills, I’m betting the plan is for Meyers to have a big role in the offense in 2023.”