A Down Year for Davante Adams Is Something the Las Vegas Raiders Can…

Davante Adams’ down year is something Las Vegas Raiders can build on.

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to rebound from a disappointing 2023 season. The team sacked head coach Josh McDaniels midway through the season and had one of the most unsightly quarterback rooms in the NFL. Although Antonio Pierce helped the Raiders maintain some dignity, they still underperformed significantly.

This is especially true for offense.Jimmy Garoppolo underperformed, while Bryan Hoyer struggled in his only start. Aiden O’Donnell was average. Aside from the quarterback position, Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams had subpar years.

Adams played all 17 games in 2023, recording 103 receptions for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns. That would be an excellent year for any other wide receiver, but it was a disappointing year by Adams’ standards. In reality, it was his lowest statistical season since 2019.

Adams recorded 83 receptions for 997 yards and five touchdowns with the Green Bay Packers in 2019. Oh, and he only played 12 games.

Between 2020 and 2022, Adams averaged 112 catches, 1,481 yards, and 14 touchdowns per year. He led the NFL in touchdowns twice during that time and set a Packers franchise mark for receiving yards in a season.

So, as unbelievable as it seems, 103 catches for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns is a poor year for the six-time Pro Bowler.

However, it is a weak year on which the Raiders can improve, as evidenced by the hiring/retention of three of his former Green Bay coaches.

Las Vegas Raiders Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy

Obviously, the most well-known candidate is offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who previously coached Adams’ wide receivers in Green Bay from 2016 to 2017. Prior to that, he was an offensive quality control coach for the Packers from 2014 to 2015. Adams, of course, was drafted in 2014.

In 2016, Adams made the next step in his NFL career. Prior to that season, he had made 88 catches for 929 yards and four scores. In 2016, he totaled 75 receptions for 997 yards and 12 touchdowns. The following season, he made his first Pro Bowl.

As horrible as the Raiders have been in the last two seasons, it is not due to Adams. With the coaching changes and quarterback instability, the Raiders needed to make a perfect pick for head coach. They hired Pierce after Adams recommended him, and then they went out and hired Getsy, who knows Adams’ game better than anyone, to manage the offense.

Las Vegas Raiders Wide Receivers Coach Edgar Bennett

Edgar Bennett, wide receivers coach, has been with the Raiders since 2018. Prior to that, he spent a lengthy time with the Packers, where he won the Super Bowl as a player in 1996.

Guess who was the wide receivers coach in Green Bay when Adams was drafted to the NFL. That’d be Bennett.

Guess who was the Packers’ offensive coordinator that watched Adams progress from drop machine to Pro Bowler? That’d be Bennett.

Of course, Bennett guided Adams to arguably his second-best statistical season in 2022, with 100 receptions for 1,516 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The Bennett-Adams coach/player relationship has worked well in the past, and the Raiders were wise not to disrupt it.

Las Vegas Raiders Senior Offensive Analyst Joe Philbin

Philbin has not spent as much time with Adams as Getsy and Bennett, but the former Miami Dolphins head coach was still the Packers’ offensive coordinator in 2018, when Adams recorded 111 catches for 1,386 yards and 13 touchdowns. At the time, it was his greatest season yet.

Philbin’s history with the Packers precedes Adams’ time there. He was initially employed as an assistant offensive line coach in 2003. He served as the tight ends coach/assistant offensive line coach from 2004 to 2005 before being elevated to offensive line coach in 2006.

Then, in 2007, the Packers elevated him to offensive coordinator. From 2007-2011, he managed the transition from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers and led the team to a Super Bowl victory in 2010.

In 2012, the Dolphins hired him as head coach, a position he maintained until 2015. From 2016 to 2017, he served as the Indianapolis Colts’ assistant head coach and offensive line coach.

In 2018, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy hired Philbin back as offensive coordinator. After McCarthy was fired near the end of the season, Philbin served as temporary head coach. Current Packers head coach Matt LaFleur did not keep him.

Philbin spent last year as an offensive analyst at Ohio State, following three seasons as offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, McCarthy hired him there.