When doing some research recently, I noticed something about how outsiders view the status of each of the Raiders’ positions. That is the the wide receiver position is all set. One can assume that the trade to acquire Davante Adams had many people cross wide receiver off and dust their hands.
The problem with that simplistic take, is it ignores the fact that the Raiders weren’t just one wide receiver short last season. They were two wide receivers short.
Adams gives them a caliber of receiver they have not had in a great long while. Perhaps not since the likes of Tim Brown and Jerry Rice lined up on each side. Pair him with Hunter Renfrow, and you’ve got something special brewing.
The problem here is offenses deploy three receivers these days. Adams is an X receiver. Renfrow is a slot receiver. What’s missing is a Z. Or, in simpler terms; speed.
They’re missing what Henry Ruggs III was starting to bring to the offense early last season before the tragic incidents that led to his release. They’re missing someone whose speed as a downfield threat must be respected and who can take the proverbial top off the defense.
The team added Demarcus Robinson this offseason, but he’s basically a possession receiver. He isn’t striking fear into any defenses.
There’s also Bryan Edwards, but he too is a big-body X-type receiver, who makes his hay as a red zone, jump-ball specialist.
Can they get by with a starting trio of Adams, Robinson, and Renfrow? Probably. Especially when you factor in tight end Darren Waller as a receiving threat. But there’s a reason the different roles exist in an offense. And it’s important to have someone to fill each of those roles.
That doesn’t mean everyone has to be a superstar. It just means in order to open up the playbook, take pressure off of Adams, and avoid constant double teams on him, defenses have to fear someone else hurting them even worse, respect that, and thus fully account for them.
Those kinds of guys don’t grow on trees, there’s no question about that. There’s also no question the Raiders receiving corps is head-and-shoulders stronger than it was at the end of last season. But let’s pump the breaks on this belief that all boxes are checked in the Raiders’ wide receiver corps. Especially when that one unchecked box is a pretty important one.