Oakland Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 loss to Vikings
By Nico Di Fede
Stock Neutral: Foster Moreau, Hunter Renfrow, Trayvon Mullen, Maxx Crosby
Foster Moreau had an up-and-down game in this one. He only had two targets and one reception, but blocking is usually what he is on the field for, and where his up-and-down plays came from.
On the Raiders first drive of the game, Moreau totally whiffed on his block, leaving his man completely untouched. On the following play, he went out to the flat on a QB rollout and hauled in the pass, but couldn’t make the first defender miss only gaining one yard on the play.
On third down of this same drive, he was assigned to pass block and again whiffed, allowing Everson Griffen to nearly get to Carr. Griffen was too fast off of the edge for Moreau who wasn’t able to plant in time.
I noticed in his college tape that while he was a good blocker, he would often have problems getting his hands on guys, not being able to track down defenders in the open field. It seems as though that continues to be an issue in his game.
On the other side of things, during the Raiders second drive, on a booming 60-yard punt by A.J. Cole, Moreau flew down the field and made the tackle at the 21-yard line.
His best play came later in the game during the third quarter, on the 18-yard, 4th-and-1 run by Josh Jacobs. Jacobs would have gotten the first down regardless, but Moreau’s block at the second level opened up the 16 extra yards that Jacobs gained.
Moreau also ran some good routes, even getting wide open deep on an outside post route during the third quarter, but Derek Carr did not see him.
Hunter Renfrow played a healthy amount in the slot in this one, registering 33 snaps which was over half of the offensive snaps at 56%.
His first catch came in the second quarter where he ran a short drag route to the outside which he hauled in for a short gain of five yards for the first down on 3rd-and-2, displaying why he was nicknamed “3rd-and-Renfrow” during his time at Clemson.
Renfrow’s second catch was an 11-yarder in the middle of the field in triple coverage. This was a nice display of concentration and the exact type of catch he struggles with due to his size and lack of strength and physicality.
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His third and final catch was nearly identical to that one, catching it again in the middle of the field and hanging on to it through the big hit that was put on him.
Renfrow got wide open deep on a “stick & nod route” in the fourth quarter, but the ball was overthrown by Carr on what would have been Renfrow’s largest gain of his young career. He finished the game with three receptions for 28 yards on a 9.3 average, his highest yet.
Trayvon Mullen played 18 defensive snaps and only recorded one tackle on the day, which was his best play of the game.
On a third down in the second quarter, Mullen read a screen perfectly, shedding the block from Adam Thielen and making the tackle for a run stop, forcing the Vikings to punt.
Mullen also made a nice tackle on Alexander Mattison the previous play, but was not credited with the tackle in the box score.
After a rough Week 1, Mullen has looked better in coverage, good in run support, and his special teams play has been solid evidenced by plays like this which is why his stock has gone from down to neutral.
Maxx Crosby played 16 defensive snaps and had nothing going for him in this one. Crosby missed two tackles on Dalvin Cook during the same drive in the third quarter.
The first was an off-tackle run where Crosby dove and missed while the second went for 15 yards where Crosby took an angle too shallow and because of that whiffed. What would have been a two-yard gain went for 15 instead.
Crosby couldn’t get any pressure and looked raw out there against the Vikings. He will need to pick up his game next week for him not to be considered trending downwards.