One of the most common themes with the Las Vegas Raiders' revised roster is the synergy between old school and new school.
On defense, the most apparent example is 24-year-old Maxx Crosby and 10-year NFL veteran Chandler Jones. On offense, the obvious duo would have to be wide receivers Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow.
Renfrow put the league on notice when he posted 1,000-plus receiving yards en route to his first Pro Bowl selection last year. This season, he'll be lined up inside an already established, decorated veteran, the five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Adams.
Adams told the media after Las Vegas' Thursday practice that he has already enjoyed working with one of the best young receivers in the game.
"He's an interesting dude because I've been around a lot of people like Hunter, but they're never usually going into their -- what is this, fourth-year coming up?," Adams said. "It's never been a fourth-year with the type of football acumen that he has and his awareness and understanding why he does certain things because there's people out there with a lot of talent, but they can't sit there and break it down and tell you why they're doing what they did with their footwork or the next rep, why they tweaked it a little bit because of a look that they had.
"So his awareness and his football smarts is -- he's definitely ahead of his time. It's actually fun. Sometimes I'll be sitting there just talking to him in the middle of an offensive meeting [and] we'll be talking about releases and he'll tell me what he thought. And I'm like, 'This is fun, this is fun being able to be with somebody who's a lot like me mentally,' you know, the way that I approach the game, the way I attack it, always trying to find little small nuances. ... It's been great; I've been learning from him, he's learning from me."
Adams also said Renfrow's presence will help increase the offense's opportunities on the field.
"Having Darren [Waller] and -- really everybody -- but having Darren and Hunter, those are two guys who if you want to come double- and triple-team me -- which has happened -- it puts a lot of stress on the defense because now they gotta go cover one-on-one with Hunter in the slot, and that's too much room to give a guy like that to go out there and operate," Adams said.
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