Rookie Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow winning praise from veterans

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow is seeing what the NFL is like. His teammates are liking what they're seeing from the first-year player from Clemson.

Just ask some of his teammates. Safety Karl Joseph, for instance, gave Renfrow a passing grade after watching the rookie go against safety Lamarcus Joyner since training camp opened Saturday.

“Man, he's everything,” Joseph said. “He's deceptively fast and he's got the quickness. He's smart. He's very smart. He knows how to get open in the zone. So, I think he's going to surprise a lot of people this year.”

Renfrow was selected in the fifth round (149th overall pick) of the 2019 NFL draft.

Cornerback Trayvon Mullen said he's not surprised by Renfrow's early success. Then again, Mullen was teammates with Renfrow at Clemson for three seasons.

“He's that guy that's just going to give his all,” Mullen said. “To me, he's going to get open every play just because of how he plays. He's an elite receiver. He was always slept on.”

In four seasons at Clemson, the 5-foot-10, 184-pound Renfrow finished with 2,133 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.

Renfrow is competing against Ryan Grant to be the team's main slot receiver.

“Obviously everyone has seen him at Clemson, seen him get open and stuff,” wide receiver Tyrell Williams said. “It was really surprising how open he would always get or how much he'd beat people. But then you see him do it out here. It's cool to see it in person. You know, he works hard, he wants to win, he wants to be a great player, so it's fun to watch him.”

Off day

Raiders players had an off day Wednesday before resuming training camp Thursday.

Next week, the Rams arrive in Napa for a joint practice with the Raiders on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The teams will meet in a preseason game in Oakland on Aug. 10. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.