why Davonte Adams is good…update, must read: Matt Bowen on Adams

AJ Schulte@AJSchulteFB
Davante Adams was 14th in ESPN’s separation score last season despite his age.

Still an elite separator and will bring the juice the Rams have missed since OBJ in their Super Bowl run.

.@nyjets @RamsNFL @tae15adams is a RAM..Great fit…The king of the "releases" takes his act to the City of Angels. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/iSdVCcU1hU

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) March 10, 2025

Davante Adams signing with Rams on 2-year, $46 million deal: Sources

By Jourdan Rodrigue, Dianna Russini

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6181390/2025/03/09/davante-adams-free-agency-signing-2025-rams/?source=emp_shared_article

The Los Angeles Rams have signed receiver Davante Adams to a two-year deal worth $46 million with $26 million guaranteed, league sources told The Athletic on Sunday afternoon.

The Rams later confirmed they had signed Adams.

Adding Adams, 32, continues the Rams’ rebuild of their wide receivers room after the team made its decision last month to move on from 2021 triple-crown winner and Super Bowl LVI MVP Cooper Kupp. The team previously also extended receiver Tutu Atwell on a one-year deal worth $10 million, a league source said.

Adams played three games for the Las Vegas Raiders last season before his trade to the New York Jets, where the hope was he and quarterback Aaron Rodgers would re-create some of the magic they had in past seasons in Green Bay. Adams was released from the Jets having played just 11 games and expressed his interest in returning to the West Coast, according to league sources familiar with his thinking. The three-time All-Pro is still playing at a high level and had 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024 despite all of the shuffling.

Adams was the No. 3-ranked free agent on The Athletic’s list of the top 150 free agents in 2025 and the second receiver.

Selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Fresno State by the Green Bay Packers, Adams is a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound wideout has five seasons with more than 100 receptions and six years with more than 1,000 yards and at least 10 touchdowns.

In 11 seasons with the Packers, Raiders and Jets, Adams has 957 career receptions, 11,844 receiving yards and 103 touchdowns. Among active players, he ranks second in receiving touchdowns and fourth in receptions and receiving yards. Adams has only played two seasons when Rodgers was not his primary starting quarterback.

How he fits

Once the Rams decided their offense/passing game will now flow through Puka Nacua, they also wanted to be aggressive in their pursuit of players who could complement the younger star. Extending Atwell as a speed option was one step in the two-part process. Sean McVay especially pursued Adams as a large-framed target for Stafford, who can get open from several alignments.

McVay especially led an aggressive pursuit of Adams in recent days, a league source said.

2025 impact

A trio of Nacua, Adams and Atwell at receiver, plus running back Kyren Williams and tight end Tyler Higbee gives the Rams more of a schematic feel akin to what we’d seen in the first half of Super Bowl LVI, except with a much more productive run game. Then, Kupp was the focal point (now Nacua) and Odell Beckham Jr. provided pop as an all-around asset in the receiving game, with downfield receiver Van Jefferson taking the top off the defense. Substitute in the modern iteration: Nacua, orbited by Adams and Atwell, with Williams as the lead back and Higbee back for at least one more ride and there’s a sense McVay is hoping to field an explosive and multiple offense.

Outlook

It’s hard to picture a McVay-led offense that doesn’t feature Kupp. That said, the Rams were aggressive in their overhaul and added skills complementary to Nacua via their two signings. In Adams, the Rams have another new star receiver in L.A., and Stafford has an “X.”

zn wrote:

James Palmer@JamesPalmerTV
If you ask around, Adams still has plenty left. He’s also been a player that has always won as a route technician and that trait usually ages well. Stafford will give him chances to make plays too.

InvaderRam wrote:

i’m a little worried. just looking for examples of wrs who remained productive beyond age 32. it’s slim. there’s rice. marvin harrison. muhsin muhammad. and not much else.

2 different views.

We’ll tell.

Time will see.

…

wv wrote:

Mina Kimes liked the Davante signing, and she noted the rams pass offense was “7th in EPA versus zone, but 22nd versus Man…”

I dunno what epa means but i know the difference between 7 and 22.

w
v

I find it kinda complicated to describe EPA, but here’s a reductive version of it. It measures plays that set up first downs. So you don’t really much out of throwing for 9 yards on 3rd and 10. Even though it’s 9 yards and a completion. You get much more out of throwing for 5 on 1st and 10.

Anyway what that stat 22 v. 7 EPA tells you is that Nacua, while a great receiver in the Rams offense, is not a great route runner. Not bad just not great. Adams is a great route runner. So Nacua is less slippery against man coverage than Adams is.

Nacua is tough, aggressive, athletic, and a gamer. He’s like a tight end in a receiver’s body. But he is not what Adams is–a receiver in a ballet dancer’s body.

Improving against man coverage raises the offense’s overall potential.

It’s okay everyone.. this guy is a Ram now.. 😎 pic.twitter.com/yWJ0AIW9IQ

— Rams Tapes 🇵🇷 (@RamsTapes) March 14, 2025

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2025/03/16/nfl-rams-most-improved-nfl-free-agency-davante-adams/82474468007/?taid=67d7581440625b00016c47c7&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen went a step further and contended that the addition of Adams made the Rams receiving corps one of the most-improved units in the NFL through the first week of free agency. Although it was just one move — and the Rams lost Kupp, Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson, Adams’ presence alongside Puka Nacua gives Los Angeles a sensational one-two punch at receiver.

From Nguyen:

“Adams struggled with drops last season, but he’s still a destroyer of man coverage. Last season, he ranked 12th in yards per route run against man coverage (2.69) while dropping 14.8 percent of his passes against man coverage (fourth-highest among receivers with at least 30 targets). Adams typically has very reliable hands, so this was an outlier season. If his drop rate regresses to the mean, he can still produce a high level in his most stable situation in years.

“Puka Nacua might be the best receiver Adams has ever played with, so Adams will theoretically see his lowest rate of double-teams since the beginning of his career. With coach Sean McVay’s play calling and Matthew Stafford’s arm talent, Adams looks to be set up for a rebound season. The Rams’ offense hasn’t had this sort of threat on the outside since Odell Beckham Jr. joined the team midseason in 2021 when L.A. won the Super Bowl.”

Zooey wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

yeah. they’re the same age but injuries have clearly got the best of kupp. i love kupp, and it was a bummer to see, but this one you could see a mile away.

141 out of 159 is not what you want in your #2 wideout. That’s not good enough for your #3 WR.

But it makes me wonder who 159 was.