Tag: Jason Fitz

‘He just makes people look dumb’: ESPN host raves about Renfrow

Before Hunter Renfrow inked a two-year, $32 million contract extension with the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month, ESPN’s Jason Fitz had a hunch that the former Clemson star was about to get paid. “I think that he, right now, is a top-three slot …

Before Hunter Renfrow inked a two-year, $32 million contract extension with the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month, ESPN’s Jason Fitz had a hunch that the former Clemson star was about to get paid.

“I think that he, right now, is a top-three slot receiver in the NFL,” the ESPN radio, digital and TV host said on the Gramlich and Mac Lain podcast. “I think the Raiders are going to pay him wildly very soon.”

Fitz was right, as the Raiders gave Renfrow $21 million guaranteed in the new deal that will keep him under contract through the 2024 season.

The Raiders’ 2019 fifth-round pick earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2021 after what was a breakout third season in the NFL, when “The Slot Machine” set career highs and ranked among the top 10 in the league in receptions (103) and receiving touchdowns (nine), while also leading the team in receiving yards (1,038) – becoming the first Raiders receiver to record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2016.

Renfrow’s 103 receptions last season marked the second-most in a single season by a receiver in Raiders history, one shy of the 104 catches that Hall of Famer Tim Brown had in 1997.

Renfrow reminds Fitz of Brown, and Fitz believes Renfrow will be catching passes in the NFL for quite a while.

“Renfrow has the ability to play for a very long time also because not only is he slick when it comes to getting open, he reminds me in this sense of Tim Brown – he avoids heavy contact all over the place,” Fitz said. “I think Renfrow’s an absolute star. The Raiders are going to have a top-three or -four offense in the NFL this year, and (Raiders quarterback) Derek Carr to Hunter Renfrow has become such a great connection, and that’s real.”

Renfrow has recorded 208 catches for 2,299 yards and 15 touchdowns across 46 games over his first three NFL seasons.

Fitz raved about Renfrow’s uncanny ability to make defenders look silly with his savvy route-running and the way he goes about his craft as a wide receiver.

“All of us that covered college football watched Hunter Renfrow make people look stupid. That’s what he does,” Fitz said. “He just makes people look dumb because he is so talented at what he does.”

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ESPN staffer predicts Atlantic Division winner, whether Clemson will return to playoff

An ESPN staffer has made his prediction for the winner of the ACC’s Atlantic Division this season. ESPN’s Jason Fitz said on the Gramlich and Mac Lain podcast with Kelly Gramlich and Eric Mac Lain that he’s picking Clemson to win the Atlantic this …

An ESPN staffer has made his prediction for the winner of the ACC’s Atlantic Division this season.

ESPN’s Jason Fitz said on the Gramlich and Mac Lain podcast with Kelly Gramlich and Eric Mac Lain that he’s picking Clemson to win the Atlantic this season over NC State (9-3, 6-2 ACC in 2021), which finished second in the division last season behind Atlantic champion Wake Forest (11-3, 7-1) and ahead of the third-place Tigers (10-3, 6-2).

“I’m going Clemson,” Fitz said.

NC State beat Clemson, 27-21, in double-overtime in Raleigh on Sept. 25 last year, and the Wolfpack’s defense outperformed expectations in 2021 while finishing second in the ACC in scoring defense (19.7 points per game allowed) behind only the Tigers (14.8).

Because of how well the Wolfpack played on that side of the ball last year, Fitz believes the team’s defense will be overhyped heading into 2022, and he cited talent and coaching as two reasons why he’s favoring Clemson to win the Atlantic.

“Look, NC State’s defense last year was better than anybody expected, and when you’re better than anybody expected, you get extra benefit of the doubt going in the next year,” Fitz said. “That’s just the way we do it. So, I feel like the most overtalked about ACC unit going into this season is going to be the NC State defense because of what they did at times last year. Talent matters, right. There’s more talent and there’s more proof of concept in the greatness of the coaching at Clemson. I think we are overvaluing NC State last year and undervaluing Clemson because of last year, and that’s why it’s all been flipped.”

Not only is Fitz picking Clemson to win the Atlantic, but he believes the Tigers will beat Miami in the ACC Championship Game for their seventh conference title in eight years and go on to appear in the College Football Playoff again after seeing their streak of six straight CFP appearances come to an end last season.

“I think Clemson’s back in the College Football Playoff this year,” he said.

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ESPN analysts envision difficult path for Clemson to the playoff

These two ESPN employees envision a difficult road for Clemson to the College Football Playoff following the Tigers’ loss to Georgia last Saturday in Charlotte. ESPN’s FPI now gives Clemson a 49-percent chance to make the CFP, and ESPN host Jason …

These two ESPN employees envision a difficult road for Clemson to the College Football Playoff following the Tigers’ loss to Georgia last Saturday in Charlotte.

ESPN’s FPI now gives Clemson a 49-percent chance to make the CFP, and ESPN host Jason Fitz says the loss to the Bulldogs isn’t what might keep the Tigers out of the playoff — it’s their remaining schedule, in his opinion, that could prevent them from making a seventh straight playoff appearance this year.

“The problem isn’t that they lost last night, it’s that I’m looking at the runway left — they don’t have a lot left,” Fitz said. “Now that North Carolina has turned out to not be as good as people thought. I know it’s early. Florida State loses over the weekend. I know it’s early. But Miami gets thumped. I just don’t see who’s left on the schedule to get them a signature win.”

Fitz added he thinks it’s going to take other playoff contenders “having a bad year for Clemson to make the playoff at this point.”

“I keep looking at that schedule, and we’ve sat in that mock committee process, right,” Fitz said. “When they’re sitting in the mock committee, you’ve got one loss that they’re going to excuse and say first week of the season, close game, came down to one defensive touchdown. So, you can excuse the loss. You can’t credit any of those wins. I think the real estate’s gone.”

ESPN analyst Mike Golic Jr. agreed with Fitz about the apparent lack of a signature win left on Clemson’s schedule.

“They’re not going to have a signature win in the way of like a marquee, out-of-conference matchup or anything like that,” Golic Jr. said. “Boston College will be decent this year, Jeff Hafley in the second year. They get them at home. Florida State, we’ll see if McKenzie Milton stays the starter. I think that offense looks different with him at the helm. That could be a decent win for them. You’ve got Wake Forest. But again, the key with all these is you’re getting all of them at home. That game against UConn, by the way, should be illegal. I’m serious. They should not be allowed to play that game.”

With Alabama and Ohio State looking like good bets to make the playoff at this early point in the season, Golic Jr. believes Clemson’s “enemies are Georgia and Oklahoma right now” for the final two spots.

“You’re looking at them,” he said. “Ohio State likely going to be the far-away favorite in the Big Ten. So you say maybe Oklahoma’s vulnerable, maybe that Georgia offense doesn’t develop and they get blown out in the SEC title game or something against Bama.

“But you have introduced a window for opportunity to go badly for you if you’re Clemson.”

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