Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders changes everything
How does Davante Adams help change things for the Raiders?
If you’ve paid attention to the Raiders when they’ve hit the red-zone within these past few years, you’ve probably felt emotions that can be best described as angry, disappointed and confused.
Over the last two years, the Las Vegas Raiders have found themselves in the bottom-10 in red-zone touchdown percentage. Even when they were out of the bottom-10 in both ’19 and ’18, the Raiders were just one spot higher, coming in at no.22 in each of these two years. To find a year where they were higher than no.22, you’d have to go all the way back to 2017.
In 2021, while Raiders were struggling to get anything to work in the red-zone, Davante Adams was feasting. Adams found the end-zone 10 times on 18 catches, consistently besting whichever poor soul the opposing defensive coordinator stuck on him.
Take it back one season, and it gets even more impressive. Not only did Adams lead the league in overall TD’s during his ’20 campaign, but he also lead the NFL in the red-zone variety, ending the season with 14. In case the point isn’t being made clear, you’d have to go back all the way to 2007 just to find a pass-catcher who snagged 14 scores in the red-zone through the air.
It isn’t just the pass red-zone offense the Raiders struggled with, nor is it only red-zone offense Adams excels at.
With Henry Ruggs still on the team, the Raiders posted at least 300 passing yards in 5 out of their 7 contests. After the tragic accident, Las Vegas got up to 300 yards through the air just one time in the remaining ten games.
Most of Raider Nation had time to notice the drastic decrease in passing efficiency without Ruggs. Davante Adams on the other hand didn’t have time, as he was too busy racking up 100+ receiving yards in 5 of his last 9 contests.
Not only was Adams as reliable as ever down the stretch, but he was still able to put up huge numbers when the field-spreader Marquez Valdes-Scantling was out. In the five-games Adams played without “MVS”, he was able to post 64,76, 89, 114 and an unreal 206 yards through the air. Doing it without his supporting cast is no problem for the All-Pro, unlike it was for the ’21 Raiders’ receivers.
Another problem virtually every pass-catcher on the ’21 Raiders’ roster had was consistency. For Adams, inconsistent isn’t in his vocabulary. You’d have to go back to week-3 of the 2020 season to find a game where the newest Raider didn’t post at least 40 yards receiving.
Adams brings a red-zone presence and know-how in unfortunate circumstances that the Raiders haven’t had on the outside for years. Combine that with his elite level of consistency, and you get the best wideout in the NFL, who now has Derek Carr tossing him the rock once more.
This wasn’t just the biggest move of the off-season for the Raiders – This was the biggest move of the off-season, period. In addition, the Raiders also welcome aboard running-back Ameer Abdullah and offensive lineman Alex Bars. Jordan Schultz has also mentioned the Raiders have put in an offer for Stephon Gilmore, but we won’t get too ahead of ourselves on that one.