Even with Davante Adams
The Las Vegas Raiders have kept the core of their offense together. Of course, adding the superstar Davante Adams was a massive offseason acquisition. Re-signing Hunter Renfrow helped create stability at the wide receiver position for the next three seasons.
Renfrow set a career-high with 103 receptions on 128 targets in 2021. When Darren Waller went down, he became the primary option for the offense, and his bond with Derek Carr continued to grow.
With Josh McDaniels becoming the head coach, the slot position becomes a vital part of the offense. Dwain Mcfarland from PFF fantasy believes Renfrow’s targets will increase with McDaniels as the play-caller.
The Raiders’ 665 projected dropbacks may end up being a tad low, as they will have to throw the ball to win games, and Renfrow also gets a slot-friendly head coach in Josh McDaniels. Ultimately, Derek Carr will decide how to divvy the targets, but McDaniels has done a fabulous job keeping his slot receivers on the field in most personnel groupings.
Dating back to 2012, when McDaniels had a healthy slot receiver (no missed games), here are their routes per dropback:
Wes Welker (2012): 92%
Julian Edelman (2013): 89%
Edelman (2016): 94%
Jakobi Meyers (2021): 92%
The Raiders are also a top-heavy roster at receiver, so Renfrow is very likely to obliterate his career-high mark from last season (78%).
PFF is counting on the Raiders to pass the ball around 700 times, which can signify a team in close games. The silver and black would feel more comfortable with Carr having fewer attempts because of scores being out of hand.
However, It could lead to Renfrow targets rising if they do pass-heavy, which is a possibility. Fans can’t wait for September to get here.
In other Raiders links:
Raiders trade for Marvin Jones?: Bleacher Report listed a player every team should trade for, and Marvin Jones was the name.
Behind the shield episode 3: Raiders.com has the new episode of behind the shield Ep.3 following the Raiders’ offseason.