Green Bay Packers: Everyone should recognize Adams as a top WR

Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams has become one of the best in football and it’s time for everyone to recognize it.

Green Bay Packers‘ fans get it, we’ve seen Davante Adams continue to develop over the last three seasons and turn into one of the best wide receivers in the game. But for whatever reason, many fans and media members from around the NFL and outside of the state of Wisconsin fail to acknowledge this.

It was a slow start to Adams’ career during his rookie season in 2014 and the following 2015 season that included just 9.7 yards per catch, one touchdown and he only caught 53.2 percent of the passes thrown his way. Many had already written the young receiver off.

However, in 2016 a switch was flipped and the Davante Adams that we see on the field today was born.

In 2016 he would finish just three yards short of a 1,000-yard season while also hauling in 12 touchdowns. The next year in just 14 games he would average 12 yards per catch, along with 885 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns.

As well as Adams looked during those two seasons, it was nothing compared to what we saw in 2018. Adams was targeted a whopping 169 times and caught nearly 66 percent of those passes. He also totaled almost 1,400 yards and caught 13 touchdown passes.

What makes last season’s numbers even more impressive is that defenses knew Adams was going to be targeted by Aaron Rodgers quite a bit and they still couldn’t slow him down. With Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison on the IR and two rookie receivers getting significant playing time, Adams was the Green Bay Packers air attack and he still couldn’t be stopped.

Over this three-year span, Adams has also become a favorite of Rodgers in the red zone. Since 2016 he has caught 28 touchdown passes inside the 20-yard line, including 12 last year and was rated as the top red zone target by Pro Football Focus.

Yet, even with all of his success, many are reluctant to put Adams in the discussion as a top receiver in the NFL. There was even a recent article that claimed that Adams’ success was due to the offensive system and having Rodgers as his quarterback.

Well, all it takes is watching a Packer game or flipping on some film to realize that this just isn’t true. In 2017 with a stagnant offense led by Brett Hundley for seven games, Adams would catch 67 percent of his passes, for almost 500 yards and four touchdowns. After Rodgers was injured, Adams was really the only productive receiver that season.

But it’s not just the stats, in recent months a few cornerbacks have discussed how difficult it truly is to cover Adams:

Xavier Rhodes of the Minnesota Vikings listed Adams in his top three toughest receivers to cover and was quoted as saying “this guy is unbelievable.”

Then when New England Patriot Stephon Gilmore was asked who is the toughest receiver to go against at the line, Gilmore replied: “Davante Adams has the best release in the game.”

What makes Adams so special is that he can do it all, from his reliable hands to his ability to be a threat downfield and the way he can just start and stop during his routes. But his biggest differentiator as mentioned above by Gilmore is his release.

At the line of scrimmage, Adams can mix up his release which makes it so difficult for defenders to know what he is going to do and that makes him nearly impossible to press cover since he can beat you in so many ways.

Whether you’re looking at his stats, his ability off the line and as a receiver, or what the top corners in the game have to say, Davante Adams is a top receiver in this league and it is time that everyone gets on board.