The debate of who is the best wide receiver in the game has been an ongoing discussion for quite some time now. Since Calvin Johnson’s retirement, we’ve seen a revolving cast of great players at the position that could lay claim to this throne. The argument in recent years has been between guys like Julio Jones, Deandre Hopkins, Antonio Brown, and Michael Thomas. Over the past five years, each of these guys have had dominant seasons, and it has really been up to the viewer to determine for themselves who is the best wideout in the league. Over that stretch of time, there has been one player in particular that has for whatever reason been left out of this elite discussion, despite posting impressive numbers and being dominant at the position. This 2020 season, we saw this player dominate the league, and the discussion has finally shifted to include him as possibly the best wide receiver in the NFL. That player of course being Davante Adams.
Frequent viewers of the NFC North division have known how good this guy has been for a while. And there’s a few reasons why the national media and fans have taken so long to recognize how good Davante Adams is and has been. For one, he gets to play with Aaron Rodgers. Which for whatever reason, is somehow a knock on him. Jerry Rice got to play with Joe Montana and Steve Young but is still considered the best to ever play. I’m not saying having a good quarterback doesn’t help you as a wide receiver, but if we’re not going to acknowledge the fact that many all-time great wide receivers have had all-time great quarterbacks, then what are we talking about? It’s not like other top guys in the conversation don’t have good quarterbacks. Julio Jones has Matt Ryan, who’s won an MVP. Michael Thomas gets to play with Drew Brees. Antonio Brown had Ben Roethlisberger, who will be a Hall of Famer. The only guy who was without a good quarterback for any point during the past five years has been DeAndre Hopkins, and the whole offense revolved around him in that time period, and then he eventually got Desean Watson. For too long, Aaron Rodgers has been a knock-on Davante Adams, and honestly, I don’t get it.
Another reason it’s taken the media and fans so long to recognize Davante Admas is that until this year he’s never led the league in anything. This is in large part due to injury, which I guess you could say is a knock, but is it really? Because he’s never had a major injury. He’s missed a few games each season, and his stats reflect that. If you look at how effective he is per game instead of end of season stats, I don’t think there’s another player that matches up to him over the past three seasons. He missed six games last year, and it was like people forget how special of a season that would have been had he not gotten hurt. He was on pace to have the most receiving yards of his career and would have been second to only Michael Thomas in yards. By the way Thomas broke the receptions record in the 2019 season, and so being second that year would have made him first in almost any other year. Despite all this, saying Davante Adams was a top 5 wideout last year was against the grain take.
This brings us to this year. Davante Adams has been nothing short of spectacular this season. 18 touchdowns, 1374 yards, 115 catches in 13.5 games. He’s PFF’s top wide receiver and has been impossible to guard all season long. His route running and hands combined with after the catch ability have led to the best season by a wide receiver in the 2020 season. Davante Admas also posted the highest passer rating when being targeted ever this season at a 136.9. Aaron Rodgers commented earlier this year that Adams is up there with Charles Woodson as the best player he’s ever played with, and his leadership on and off the field has bolstered the young wide receivers around him. Davante Adams is currently the best wide receiver in the NFL and has quietly been top 5 for the past three years.
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