After a wonderful performance in the 2023 season, Davante Adams finds himself in the middle of a feeble team performance. The escalation of this concern reached its peak in a recent YouTube segment of Get Up, where Dan Orlovsky passionately argued that Adams’ extraordinary talent is being squandered with the Raiders.
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Davante Adams is not just a football player; he’s an on-field maestro. This season he’s reeled in 39 catches for 471 yards and three touchdowns. However, the canvas he’s painting on, the Las Vegas Raiders, hasn’t quite matched his palette. This harshness between personal achievement and team ignorance has caught the critical eye of commentators, especially Dan Orlovsky, who has stirred quite a debate about Adams’ future.
Davante Adams Should Ask to be Traded?
In the expanding narrative, Orlovsky’s words weren’t just opinions; they were a clarion call. The former quarterback turned analyst didn’t mince words on Get Up. The discussion, which initially focused on the Eagles’ victory, took a sharp turn when on being asked, “What’s going to happen now?” Orlovsky’s responded with a mix of admiration for Adams and frustration:
“He should ask to be traded. His Hall of Fame career is being wasted right now he’s trending towards being a Hall of Famer. He is being wasted in Las Vegas right now…right now its a bad football team, there’s no known future who’s going to be playing QB there…”
Adams has 90 career touchdowns. Orlovsky further compared Adams to legends like Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, and Randy Moss, as the only other players who had as many touchdowns by the age of 30. While Orlovsky’s stance might seem drastic, the statistics lend him credence. Adams’ fiery start has dimmed, not due to his faltering but seemingly due to the Raiders’ inability to consistently integrate him into their game plan.
Adams isn’t just any player; he’s a six-time Pro Bowl receiver and a three-time All-Pro, whose current use raises more questions than answers. Ryan Clark weighed in, emphasizing the infectious nature of a non-conducive atmosphere: “Sometimes bad plays are contagious.” Clark highlights the detrimental effect of an unsupportive environment on even the highest-caliber players, like Adams. It’s not just about one season or a few games, but potentially about the trajectory of a “Hall of Fame” career that’s at stake.
Devante Adams himself voiced frustrations about not being given a bigger role in the offense. His calls were heard, giving him a bigger role in the offense against the Bears. However, the Raiders still lost, with Adams being targeted 12 times and catching seven passes for 57 yards.
Rex Ryan Draws Parallels With Randy Moss’s Raiders Era
Ryan Rex, appreciating his talent and interest in what he was doing but presenting the argument on behalf of the Raiders, following his performance against the Bears and the team conceding to his demands with the offense said,
“Well, if I look at it this way, I mean you’re not going to trade him unless you get a heck of a compensation package, for you shouldn’t and quite honestly, Devante… his focus isn’t quite there either. But if I’m the Raiders, I’m going to listen; you have to.”
Ryan further added a perspective that draws parallels with another legendary receiver, Randy Moss, who also faced struggles with the Raiders. He said,
“Randy Moss, the only time I ever saw him struggle, was with the Raiders, and now here you have Devante Adams, who is a Hall of Fame talent and, you know, a talented receiver, and he’s struggling also with the same organization.”
Interestingly, Randy Moss scored 23 touchdowns after leaving the Raiders for the Patriots the next season. However, according to Adam Schefter, the Raiders have told teams in the NFL that they won’t be parting with the WR by the October 31 trade deadline. Despite his open unhappiness with his current situation with the team, it’s unlikely that Adams is going anywhere anytime soon.
