Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Davante Adams is on pace for his best season and a place in the Packers’ record books. Adams is in his fifth year of the NFL, but was not a stand out receiver until the 2016 season. He has yet to hit 1,000 yards for a season in his career (he was three yards short in 2016) but he is only 47 yards away after his outstanding 166 yard game against the Seattle Seahawks Thursday night.
Adams was the Packers second-round draft pick in 2014 after he played a standout two years a Fresno State.
We all know that Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers is able to throw perfect deep passes when they need it most. Adams has become his favorite target since they released Jordy Nelson in the offseason. Although the Packers lost Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks, Adams was the star of the game. He caught 10 of his 12 targets for 166 yards. His biggest play of the game came on a big third-down play when he caught a dime pass for 57 yards.
Every year it seems that the Packers are stretched thin for receivers. This year is no different. Rising star Geronimo Allison was placed on IR right after Week 9. Randall Cobb has been dealing with a groin injury since early in the season. Tight end Jimmy Graham was signed to help replace some of Nelson’s production but only has two touchdowns on the season and is not a huge factor. Now he has a broken thumb, but is expected to play next Sunday night.
Because of all these injuries, Rodgers has had to rely on two rookie receivers to learn an ad-lib system that Davante Adams knows and fits in with so well.
On the defensive side, the Packers are starting to thin tremendously. Injuries have devastated this team, but this is nothing new for Aaron Rodgers. He has only had one top 10 defense in his career and that was in 2010 when he won the Super Bowl. He is used to carrying a team on his back but with a little bit of help from his receivers. Specifically, Davante Adams.
When someone names their top five receivers, who comes is usually listed? Most people would say Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Odell Beckham Jr, Julio Jones and A.J. Green. Most people would hesitate to add Davante Adams to that lineup.
Yet, so far this season, Adams has nine touchdown receptions, tied for second behind Brown. Through his breakout seasons, he has recorded 31 touchdowns.
In 2016, he was tied for first with Brown for most receiving touchdowns with 12.
In 2017, he was tied for second in receiving touchdowns with 10, just behind Hopkins with 13. That is with him missing the last two regular season games.
No other receiver has more receiving touchdowns since 2016 than Adams. He is a huge threat to corners. When he is one-on-one with the corners, Rodgers will go to Adams every time knowing that he will catch the ball.
The Packers re-signed Adams last December to a four-year $58 million contract extension. His $14.5 million yearly salary makes him the fourth highest paid receiver, just behind Brown, Hopkins and Green.
This season he is catching almost 68% of his targets. He already has 106 on the season. His career high was in in 2016 with 121. He is set to break that and set a Packers target record with 170.
Davante Adams should be considered a top receiver and his stats over the years prove that.
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