McCarthy: Adams has made a huge jump in a number of things

After last season, there's all the more reason for expectations to be higher than ever before for Davante Adams.

The Packers' wide receiver entering his fourth year in the league is coming off his best season since being drafted to Green Bay in 2014, adding to the list of second-round receivers drafted in the Ted Thompson era.

75 percent of them found success at the NFL level. Adams can up that to 80 percent if he follows up his personal-best season with another for the stat book.

He came just three yards shy of eclipsing 1,000 on the season, however, his 997 receiving yards surpassed his yardage total in his first two seasons combined. He also tripled the amount of touchdowns he caught in year one and year two with 12 in year three.

Injuries played a major role in Adams' struggles in 2015. Slowed down by an ankle injury, he posted a 53.2 catch percentage which currently stands as the lowest in his three-year career. He also managed just 9.7 yards per catch and a measly single touchdown.

Two years later, he's healthier now and ready to make a similar impact to what he showed a season ago—and even beyond.

"Davante [Adams] has made a huge jump in a number of things," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said early Thursday morning prior to the teams' open practice. "He'll be the first to tell you about the injury he fought through in year two, he was definitely much healthier in year three."

Adams finished second on the team in touchdown receptions (12) behind Comeback Player of the Year Jordy Nelson who hauled in 14. Adams' 12 was good for a tie for second-most in the league.

Leaping into a premiere role on the perimeter—even despite being 6'1", his big body is easy to see why—Adams has demonstrated quick, instinctive feet in getting off the line. What stood out a season ago was the connection between he and Aaron Rodgers on slants and even on the deep ball.

Adams helped contribute to a passing game that hit 70.2 percent of its targets on intermediate routes despite his career-best 13.3 yards per catch a season ago.

Amongst players with 50 or more catches, Adams posted the highest touchdown percentage of 16.0 on the dot. Nelson was third (14.4 percent) behind the Cowboys' Dez Bryant. A testament to his vast jump as a now-healthy receiver in the Packers' arsenal.

Adams enters 2017 playing for a new contract and even more incentive to repeat, or ideally improve upon, his impressive showing last season.

He's currently playing on the four-year, $3.9 million dollar contract he signed as a rookie, however, if the Packers handle his situation anything like how they handled Randall Cobb's, Adams may be in for a big pay day. Cobb signed a $40 million dollar deal in 2015 for four years, averaging $10 million per year.

"He has a complete understanding of all positions, advancement in route running and the time-clock coordination between him and Aaron Rodgers. We did a much better job in creating opportunities for him."

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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (9)

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Finwiz's picture

June 01, 2017 at 12:07 pm

Oh gawd, here we go again with more expectations for number 17. How about we just watch him perform like the number 3 receiver he is, and let things play out, rather than apply more pressure from the press?

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ShanghaiKid's picture

June 01, 2017 at 01:02 pm

I'll be the first to admit I was wrong about Adams. Popular nicknames I referred to him included "Dropvante Adams" and "Ol Stone Hands" but he has proven me wrong. Does he drop some passes from time to time? Yes, but what receiver doesn't? Do I think he'll ever be a top 10-20 WR in the league? No, But he's a very good No. 2 and fringe No. 1. A far cry from camp cuts fodder I had him pegged for in last year. Keep dong your thing Adams, GPG!

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Spock's picture

June 02, 2017 at 09:10 am

Shanghaikid, "Does he drop some passes from time to time? Yes, but what receiver doesn't?" Well, the one who didn't drop a single pass last year that comes to mind is Cobb. :) I like Adams (except for his pointing to his name on the back of his jersey after a tough catch) and was never part of the "Dropvante" name calling and cut Adams group. Agree with you that most receivers drop even easy catches from time to time. I remember James Jones used to do that early in his career, drop the "easy" pass and catch the "hard" pass. It will be interesting to see how Adams does this year.

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Roadrunner23's picture

June 01, 2017 at 01:02 pm

Yes indeed; Davante is an enigma, he will tease will the great catch one play and drop the easy one a few plays later. I remember in days of yore another Packers receiver who did the same thing Sterling Sharpe. Yes smilin Sterling had his share of easy drops too. Now don't get me wrong, Adams is no Sterling Sharpe but he is extremely talented and I for one hope he has a huge year and proves all the nay-sayers wrong. I predict he will do this and the Packers receiving corps will stay in "good hands" for years to come so they can focus on others areas of need. GO PACK!!

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billybobton's picture

June 01, 2017 at 01:14 pm

In fact without JORDY and COOK ahead of him his numbers last year were bad.

At crunch time, in the playoffs he disappeared. He was as little a threat as could be. V. ATL was stat padding in the playoff time of all time. ATL coverages were so off a man with one legs posts numbers....where was dropvante?

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Nick Suchecki's picture

June 01, 2017 at 06:50 pm

yeah 2nd in the league in TD's is pretty bad. 1000 yards receiving isn't too good either...

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NickPerry's picture

June 02, 2017 at 06:47 am

Really? He caught 22 passes in the first 2 playoff games against the Giants and Cowboys and you focus on the Atlanta game? The whole team played poorly against Atlanta, not just Adams.

Where was billybobton the first 2 games of the playoffs??

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billybobton's picture

June 02, 2017 at 01:51 pm

In philosophy class wondering how a phenom can catch 16 of his targets in 3 games but have 22 catches in 2 games.

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PatrickGB's picture

June 02, 2017 at 07:27 am

Aarons favorite receiver is the one who is open. Jordy does it by crisp routes and speed. Adams does it with a mean shake and bake, Cobb does it on a comeback drill. This year the TE's will do it running in the middle of the field. Rodgers and Janis catch the Hail Mary's. Ty will do it out of the backfield.

Lethal!

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