As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. The Oakland Raiders leaned on Hunter Renfrow in the second half of the season last year, but the Las Vegas Raiders have a much deeper roster of potential targets. Did Hunter Renfrow do enough down the stretch last year to justify picking him in your 2020 fantasy drafts?
Hunter Renfrow ADP and AAV:
Standard: WR73, 204 overall
PPR: WR62, 167 overall
Average Auction Value: $1
Hunter Renfrow Statistics:
| Year | 2019 |
| G | 13 |
| GS | 4 |
| Tgt | 71 |
| Rec | 49 |
| Yards | 605 |
| TD | 4 |
| Tgt/G | 4.44 |
| Rec/G | 3.06 |
| Rec% | 69.0% |
| Yds/Tgt | 8.52 |
| Yds/Rec | 12.35 |
| Year | 2019 |
| Std Pts | 84.5 |
| HPPR Pts | 109 |
| PPR Pts | 133.5 |
| Pts/G | 6.5 |
| HPPR Pts/G | 8.4 |
| PPR Pts/G | 10.3 |
| Pts/Tgt | 1.19 |
| Pts/Tgt (HPPR) | 1.54 |
| Pts/Tgt (PPR) | 1.88 |
| Year | 2019 |
| Air Yards | 495 |
| aDOT | 7 |
| YAC | 301 |
| YAC/Tgt | 4.24 |
| YAC/Rec | 6.14 |
| YAC% | 49.8% |
| AYMS | 18% |
| Tgt MS | 17% |
Hunter Renfrow Overview:
The question with Hunter Renfrow isn’t, “did he do enough his rookie year to justify taking him in 2020?” it is, “will the Raiders continue to use Renfrow like they did last season?” Because the answer to the first question is yes. The answer to the second question is… maybe?
Hunter Renfrow came on in the second half of the season, getting seven targets in week nine, becoming Derek Carr’s short-area target. Renfrow then turned into a PPR machine. A rib injury cost him three weeks in the second half, but outside that, he lived up to expectations. He played on an 83 reception, 1,072 yards, 8 touchdown pace in the second half of the season when not injured. Renfrow scored enough points to be a WR3 or better in five-of-six healthy games down the stretch. The Raiders offense set him loose in the last two games, giving him 18 targets that he turned into 209 yards and two scores. In Renfrow’s second-half games, he had 41 targets. No two Raiders WRs received 40 targets combined in those games.
But, that’s where problems come up for Renfrow going into 2020. The Raiders added first-round (Hank Ruggs) and third-round (Bryan Edwards) wide receivers. That’s not great for Renfrow. They also added a Swiss Army knife back (Lynn Bowden) who will steal targets. Let’s not forget that they still have Tyrell Williams and tight end Darren Waller. There’s a whole mess of guys setup and ready to steal targets from Hunter Renfrow, which turns him from a slam dunk breakout candidate to a dart throw guy in 2020.
Hunter Renfrow Draft Strategy:
Hunter Renfrow Auction Value: $3
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!
There are guys I target at the end of my drafts and guys that I’ll take if my targets get snapped up. Renfrow definitely falls into that category. I have a gut feeling he will be a good player this year, but there’s too much swirling with the Raiders’ receiving room for me to feel like he has anything more than top-36 upside when all is said and done. The Raiders clearly made diversifying their pass catchers a priority this year, adding three guys in the draft who should get targets. That probably leaves Renfrow out in the cold.
Luckily, you don’t have to invest too much in Renfrow to get him onto your squad, and if you see him as a fallback sleeper, his true value clicks into place. His upside is that he helps your squad as a glue guy, a mini-Julian Edelman. The downside is that you cut him in three weeks after he gets seven combined targets from Derek Carr.
Best Case Scenario:
The real gym rat slot receiver uses his deceptive athleticism and his sneaky quickness to have WR2/WR3 weeks on a consistent basis.
Worst Case Scenario:
The lunch pail he brings to work every day is worse off than the NBA players’ quarantine struggle meals and he doesn’t have the nutrition to help your team. A man cannot live off of Danimals alone!
[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]
