Packers: Davante Adams is a top-10 wide receiver in fantasy football
Davante Adams is a wide receiver you should trust in fantasy football this season.
Now the clear No. 1 pass catcher on the Green Bay Packers’ depth chart, Adams is set for his best season yet.
Adams has posted 1,882 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns over the past two seasons, and that was playing alongside former top target Jordy Nelson. He also continued to produce strong fantasy numbers with Brett Hundley in at quarterback while Aaron Rodgers sat out with a broken collarbone.
This year, Adams enters a perfect situation.
Rodgers is returning from injury, and Adams is now the leader of the wide receiver room.
Adams and Rodgers played just five games together last season, if you don’t include the Week 4 Bears game that Adams left early with a concussion, and the Week 6 game Rodgers left early with a broken collarbone. In those five games, Adams averaged 5.2 receptions for 65.8 yards and 0.8 touchdowns. In PPR scoring, that would work out at around 18 fantasy points. Without Nelson, these numbers could continue to rise.
In a recent ESPN 12-team, PPR mock draft, Adams was selected early in the second round, 14th overall. He was the sixth receiver off the board, selected ahead of Odell Beckham Jr., A.J. Green and Mike Evans.
Marcus Grant of NFL.com has Adams 19th in his top 200 fantasy players for 2018 rankings. He’s the 10th receiver on the list.
No matter how you look at it, Adams should be considered a low-end WR1 at the very worst this year.
He’s proven he’s an excellent receiver, and he is now the No. 1 target in a consistent, efficient offense led by the league’s best quarterback.
While Rodgers does spread the ball around, when it matters the most he leans on receivers he trusts. Nelson used to be that guy. Adams has earned Rodgers’ trust in recent years, particularly in the red zone. No player in the NFL has more touchdowns than Adams since the start of 2016. Lots of touchdowns results in lots of fantasy points.
Yes, the Packers signed Jimmy Graham. They also have Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison, and drafted three receivers. Targets will be shared between the receivers lower on the depth chart, but the majority will belong to Adams.
When Rodgers needs a big third-down conversion, who is he most likely to turn to? With Nelson gone, Adams becomes his top target. While Graham will receive some of Nelson’s targets, particularly in the red zone, he first needs to get on the same page as his quarterback.
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No such problem for Adams, who has four years experience working with Rodgers. And importantly, he’s earned his trust in that time.
With a healthy Rodgers, Adams isn’t just the Packers’ No. 1 receiver, but also a WR1 in fantasy.