/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63158285/usa_today_11872225.0.jpg)
Relationships are a big part of the NFL. Whether it’s player-player, player-coach, or coach-coach, the NFL is built on relationships. Just take a look at the new staff in Tampa Bay. Bruce Arians took the job because everyone on “his staff” became available.
So when a prospect who is at the NFL Scouting Combine can speak about how close he is with a four-year NFL veteran, he does.
There are more than just the physical attributes and Clemson to the Adam Humphries/Hunter Renfrow comparisons. They’re extremely close friends. They work out together in the off-season, they play golf, they talk with one another on a regular basis. They’re tight.
I asked Renfrow about his relationship with Humphries when he was at the podium in Indianapolis;
Adam is a good friend of mine. I was a red shirt (Freshman) when Adam was a Senior at Clemson. Wore number thirteen. That was a big reason I wore number thirteen. He comes back. We’re training at the same facility so we go play golf a good amount. He’s one of my close friends and someone I can look up to.
He’s kind of paved the way. He’s coming up on a contract year this year and has had some success. I’m excited to just follow in his foot steps.
Renfrow was then asked about the fact that he was invited to the Combine, whereas Humphries was not;
I think guys like Adam have paved the way. Whenever you get on the field, that’s when you gotta perform. Adam didn’t really get that chance. He was a walk-on player in the NFL basically. So me just being here, I kind of have a leg up on him in that sense. I’m still gonna have to go out there and prove it, doing some of the things he did.
Humphries finished his Clemson career with 127 receptions for 1,097 yards and three touchdowns in his four seasons. Renfrow, on the other hand, had 186 receptions for 2,133 yards and fifteen touchdowns in his four years - another reason he’s at the Combine where Humphries was not.
If the Buccaneers are unable to retain Humphries, there are a lot of options in the draft and Hunter Renfrow is certainly an option to replace his close friend at the slot position in Tampa Bay.