Davante Adams, the two-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler, is among the best wide receivers in the NFL. He's been one of quarterback Aaron Rodgers' most reliable weapons this season and will be someone the San Francisco 49ers defense has to slow down during Saturday's playoff game against the Green Bay Packers.
Adams has been a handful for the 49ers in recent years. The receiver has hauled in 48 receptions for 618 yards and five touchdowns in five meetings with the Niners since 2018, including the 2019 season's nine-reception, 138-yard performance in the NFC Championship Game. That's an average of nearly 124 yards per game. He's been dominant.
"I just think of how balanced he is and how his lower half is with his feet," head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Adams during his Thursday press conference. "He is a big guy who can always create an edge on a defender. And if you can create an edge on a defender wherever they're at, then you can always separate to explode away."
The Rodgers-to-Adams combination in 2021 produced career-highs in receptions (123) and receiving yards (1,553). The wideout also had 11 touchdowns this season. His receiving yards and receptions totals set Packers franchise records.
"Just from film, you can tell him and Aaron have just got great chemistry," 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt said on Friday. "Sometimes Aaron just throws it up, and he's coming down with the ball, so they're playing with a lot of confidence."
Tartt and the defense will try to find a way to mitigate Adams' impact on Saturday's game. The receiver is used to it, though. He often battles double-coverage and sometimes triple-coverage (see the game against the Baltimore Ravens).
If you ever want to know why Packers reporters will tell you there's nobody better to talk with than Davante Adams, just watch this.
When it looks like he's checking his texts during a Zoom press conference, he's searching for and showing us film of how the Ravens guarded him. pic.twitter.com/NHriszLdij
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 22, 2021
This season, the 49ers defense allowed the sixth-fewest passing yards in the NFL. Still, Adams recorded 12 receptions for 132 receiving yards and a touchdown during the Week 3 meeting at Levi's Stadium, so the San Francisco defense knows the challenge ahead of them.
Shanahan added, "And when you have the hands that he has, the size he has, the feet, the toughness, being one of the best receivers in the league and then pairing him with a quarterback who doesn't need much separation, who gets you the ball wherever he wants it, that's a very lethal combination that has made them win a lot of games here since they've been together."