The Philadelphia Eagles might be the hottest team in the NFL after winning their sixth consecutive game with a 26-18 victory over their NFC East Division rival Washington Commanders in Week 11.
That doesn’t mean the Eagles still don’t have areas they can improve in — most pointedly their lack of a third wide receiver option.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder listed a third wide receiver as the Eagles’ biggest weakness headed into a Week 12 Sunday Night Football game on the road against the Los Angeles Rams.
“Offensively, the Eagles’ biggest issue remains their lack of a reliable third receiver. Trade acquisition Jahan Dotson hasn’t been the answer,” Holder wrote on November 18. “Unless Howie Roseman is willing to sign a free agent like Michael Thomas or Hunter Renfrow, he needs to look within for a solution.”
While Thomas might not be the best player to add because of perceived team chemistry issues in the past, Renfrow might be a better option after inexplicably finding himself out of football just 3 years after making the Pro Bowl with the Las Vegas Raiders.
It’s been kind of a mystery why Renfrow isn’t playing in the NFL right now — despite 2 down seasons with the Raiders in 2022 and 2023.
“Yes, Renfrow’s production tailed off the past couple of years and he dealt with some injuries, but it’s wild to think his days as an NFL player could be over,” Silver and Black Pride’s Bill Williamson wrote on Oct. 1. “… Now, he sits at home at a time when he is supposed to be in the prime of his career.”
Tracking Renfrow’s Unlikely Path to NFL Stardom
It’s probably not fair to Renfrow to say he was an unlikely NFL star — it’s better to say his entire football career was an unlikely story. By the time he was on the Raiders’ radar in the 2019 NFL draft he was a pretty well known commodity.
Renfrow was just 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds when he joined Clemson as a walk-on in 2014 but ended up as one of the key players on teams that won 2 College Football Playoff national championships in 2016 and 2018 — most notably catching the game-winning touchdown pass with 4 seconds left to beat Alabama in the 2017 CFP National Championship Game.
Renfrow was also a 2-time All-ACC pick and won the Burlsworth Trophy as the nation’s top walk-on in 2018.
After the Raiders took Renfrow in the fifth round (No. 119 overall) in 2019, he had over 600 receiving yards in each of his first 2 seasons before going off for 103 receptions, 1,038 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2021 and was selected to the Pro Bowl.
Renfrow signed a 2-year, $32 million contract before the 2022 season that coincided with a massive drop off in his production — he only had 81 receptions for 585 yards and 2 touchdowns over the next 2 seasons before he was released by the Raiders in March 2024.
Breaking Down Philly’s Upcoming Schedule
There’s still time to bring in a player like Renfrow and have them make an impact in the final stretch of the regular season — the Eagles are currently 8-2 headed into Week 12 against the Rams. They follow that with another road game at the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13 before back-to-back home games against the Carolina Panthers (Week 13) and Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 14).