Davante Adams is set to play his first NFL season with the Raiders. While some are worried that his production could dip while away from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, Adams doesn't share those concerns.
Why? Because he believes that Raiders quarterback Derek Carr isn't all that different than Rodgers.
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Adams played with Carr at Fresno State. He explained at his media availability on Thursday that Carr and Rodgers actually have a similar skill set highlighted by their strong arms and dedication to the mental part of the game.
"As far as talent and ability, it's really similar, if I'm keeping it real," Adams said, per NFL.com. "They throw the ball a lot different. Derek's gonna fire it in there, and you gonna know that thing's coming quick. Aaron's got the ability to tighten that core up and flick that ball to you. So the release is a lot different, but being able to get the ball to you late, if they see you coming out of a break, not many quarterbacks can get it to you before you get to the sideline if you're outside the numbers already.
"Having two guys like that with really strong arms, and understand the game, the mental part of it, is another similarity that they have. They both obsess over it and they know everything that's going on out there."
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Certainly, that's a lofty comparison from Adams, and some may scoff at it. After all, Rodgers has won back-to-back MVP awards, and while Carr produced more passing yards than him last year, Rodgers was far more efficient.
| Player | Comp. % | Passing yards | Pass TDs | INTs | Y/a | QBR |
| Aaron Rodgers | 68.9 | 4,115 | 37 | 4 | 7.7 | 69.1 |
| Derek Carr | 68.4 | 4,804 | 23 | 14 | 7.7 | 52.4 |
That said, Adams was quick to point out that there is a key difference between the two quarterbacks.
"Lot of similarities, but much different, and I think Derek is in a position where he's chasing to be one of those all-time greats like that, which is, like I said, that's not a slight on Derek whatsoever; I wouldn't be here if I was slighting Derek," Adams said. "But I don't think I'm ready to compare myself to Jerry Rice just yet — we'll see when it's all said and done or after some more time just to be fair overall — and I think the same is with Derek where we're both chasing it and still got a lot in front of us."
So, Adams isn't ready to crown Carr the next Rodgers just yet.
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It's also worth noting that the veteran receiver mentioned that he and Carr have "a lot in front of us." He mentioned that Rodgers' uncertain future played a part in his decision to leave the Packers. Adams wasn't sure how much longer the 38-year-old quarterback was going to keep playing, and that's part of why he was willing to take less money to play with Carr and the Raiders.
"We had talks just like what he said the other day," Adams said. "He mentioned we had talks about his future and what he thinks his duration in Green Bay or just football in general would look like, and that played into my decision, as well. Because where I am in my career — and this isn't a shot at anybody, any other quarterbacks, in Green Bay, I love Jordan Love especially, he's a great guy — I got aspirations of doing really, really big things and being remembered, and it just wasn't really a point in my career that I was willing to sacrifice Aaron not being there after a year or two.
"So my decision was to be here, and he respected that, he understood that it has a lot to do with where I want to raise my kids, family, being closer to home. ... We've had a lot of good talks, man. He understands where I'm coming from, I understood where he was coming from, so we kind of just left it at that."
