Is Jordan Love Better Off Without Davante Adams?

On March 17th, 2022, the Packers traded away their All-Pro wide receiver, Davante Adams. It was a move that would kickstart the team rebuilding their offense over the next two years. Neither the Packers nor Davante Adams really commented on the situation in detail, just on the fact that it was time to move on. Many thought, perhaps Adams didn’t believe in Jordan Love. He knew Aaron Rodgers wasn’t long for his time with the Packers and preferred to go to his friend Derek Carr in Las Vegas than tie himself to an uncertain quarterback. With Adams about to have his third different opening-day quarterback during his time in Vegas, and Jordan Love looking like the clear-cut starter for the Packers for years to come, Adams has been called out a lot for his decision. Recently, Adams stated that he would have stayed in Green Bay and rolled with Jordan Love had the Packers given him the money he wanted. This has set commentary ablaze imagining what Jordan Love having Davante Adams at his disposal would be capable of. 

Easily the best Packers player of the 90s that wasn’t on the 1996/97 Super Bowl-winning squad, was Sterling Sharpe. When you look back to the 1992, 93, and 1994 seasons, the connection between Brett Favre and Sterling Sharpe was one of the most dynamic in Packers history. Many credit Favre’s rise to having an All-Pro receiver like Sterling Sharpe lined up wide. Of course, Favre likely learned a lot from Sharpe and he provided an excellent target for a young QB. But looking back at it, you see how much Brett Favre relied on Sterling Sharpe. In the 1993 season alone, 35% of Favre’s total completions, were to Sterling Sharpe. Sharpe was also quoted once telling Favre to “just get me the ball.” Even though Favre turned out just fine, these types of quarterback/receiver relationships can sometimes hurt development. It causes them to rely on that receiver to always be open and when they’re not around, they lack chemistry with the rest of the targets and things spiral. 

So, let’s imagine the Packers added another five or so million dollars per year to their offer in 2022 and Davante Adams accepted. He played one more year with Aaron Rodgers at the helm before Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets and Jordan Love took over as the starting quarterback. We’ll say all other receivers left the team as they did in the 2022 and 2023 off-seasons. Without the trade capital from him, and Adams locked down for four years with GB, I don’t think Christian Watson would have been drafted by the Packers but the team still had to re-fill their receivers room. So, we’ll say Doubs, Reed, Wicks, Toure, and DuBose are drafted still. So, Jordan Love has a possible future Pro Football Hall of Famer in Davante Adams, and then three rookies and two second-year receivers.

For Love’s first season as the starter, he has one very seasoned and accomplished receiver and five very inexperienced receivers. 

Would the Success Match Up?

Entering the 2023 season, Jordan Love would have one receiver he knows very well as he’d spent the last three years around him and then five he didn’t know all that well. I could see Love getting together with all his targets before camp to try developing chemistry, but there’s still that one guy whose skill cannot be denied who would constantly get that first look. No matter what looks Love had each play, I think he likely would always be looking for Davante Adams. He could have five receivers on the field, but Adams would likely always be the first and fourth look, maybe more. Throwing to Davante Adams would become Love’s security blanket. When everything else wasn’t panning out, just put it up for Davante and see if he comes down with it. There would probably still be some success to it regardless, but it would hurt the development of the rest of the offense. 

Towards the end of Aaron Rodgers’ time in Green Bay, many said he hated young receivers. That wasn’t quite the case, but I believe it had everything to do with trust. Why spend his time trying to get more targets to unproven rookies when he has his established veterans in Adams, Cobb, and Lazard? In some ways that may have been the downfall of the last few years of his career in Green Bay. But he was on the “win now” train and that train didn’t waste time developing rookies if it didn’t have to. 

Jordan Love would’ve had a little more inexperience than experience around him, but he was also inexperienced. That’s why I think he would’ve focused a little more on Davante Adams than other receivers and relied on him.

Receiving security blankets, however, can cause some forced throws. It can cause young QBs to panic and just send it to their favorite target right away with sometimes disastrous results. Jordan Love not having Davante Adams to fall back on, caused him to play the play as it was written. Love would go through his progressions as designed and wouldn’t play favorite with who got the catch. Take a look at the Packers’ receiving corps right now, and the fact that they have no clear-cut WR1 is seen as a good thing. In one game Christian Watson could be the difference-maker, and then in the next Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, or Bo Melton. Each receiver is developing at the same time. They’re getting relatively the same amount of looks and experience. 

This causes defenses to not know who to focus coverage on during a given down. Either one of those receivers could be a threat. If Davante Adams is on the field, however, Adams is undoubtedly the WR1 and there’s kind of a “need” to get the ball to Davante. 

Love may have had some success with Davante Adams. There’s a chance it could’ve been on Sterling Sharpe/Brett Favre levels. But when it comes to Love’s development, and the development of the rest of the weapons on the Packers’ offense, there’s a chance Jordan Love could’ve been better off without Davante Adams.