Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow’s comeback bid with the Panthers is off to a good start.
Renfrow caught 103 passes for the Raiders in 2021, but missed seven games the next season and only had 25 catches in 17 games for Vegas in 2023. He did not play at all after being released in March 2024 and revealed after joining the Panthers this offseason that he lost significant weight while dealing with what was ultimately diagnosed as ulcerative colitis.
Renfrow’s work in the spring drew positive reviews around the team and head coach Dave Canales said on Saturday that his early training camp work has prompted memories of the wideout’s best days on the football field.
“I mean, it’s just the Hunter Renfrow I remember,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “So he looks healthy, and I think everyone who’s watched football over the last four or five years remembers what he looks like. And he’s really playing at top form right now. I’m really excited to have him here and to have his family, which is right down the road here after this practice to be able to just connect with him. And it’s a great story that’s unfolding right in front of our eyes, so it’s really exciting to see him playing out there.”
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young ended the 2024 season on an upswing and adding a sure-handed target in Renfrow as well as first-round wideout Tetairoa McMillan in the draft gives him a chance to continue building with a deeper supporting cast. That could help set the stage for another great story for a team that has been looking for a winner for nearly a decade.
