By the end of last season, Raiders rookie wide receiver Hunter Renfrow was no longer a secret. He had become Derek Carr’s go-to target on third downs and he surpassed 100 yards in each of the team’s last two games of the season while the Raiders were still clinging to a slim chance of sneaking into the playoffs.
Raiders fans were feeling pretty good about the prospects of the team’s fifth-round pick and new slot machine. Can he keep it going? One stat suggests there is a very good chance he can — Yards Per Route Run.
Renfrow had the second most Yards Per Route Run (YPRR) in the league per PFF stats. He was the only receiver in the top nine in YPRR who wasn’t drafted on Day 1 or Day 2.
This stat all by itself isn’t the be-all-end-all, because it can be misleading if the receiver didn’t play a lot.
Renfrow played a fair amount, averaging 33 snaps per game, though among the top ten rookie receivers in YPRR, only Andy Isabella (10) and Mecole Hardman (29) had fewer snaps per game.
Even still, averaging over two yards per route run as a rookie puts Renfrow in some elite company.
Averaging 2.09 yards per route run puts Renfrow in the range of the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster (2.16), AJ Green (2.13), Julio Jones (2.10), Keenan Allen (2.06), Mike Evans (2.06), Cooper Kupp (2.05), and Michael Thomas (2.04).
