Crowning Achievement: Adams Chases Receiving History

Driven by his Kobe Bryant-like desire to dominate, Davante Adams is having one of the great seasons in NFL history.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the Super Bowl era, there have been only three players who won the “Receiving Triple Crown.”

Had he not missed two-and-a-half games with a hamstring injury, Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams might have joined Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992) and Steve Smith (2005) as the only players to lead the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns in the same season.

Entering Saturday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers, Adams leads the NFL in receptions per game, receiving yards per game and receiving touchdowns regardless of games. Adams’ 8.27 receptions per game is significantly ahead of Stefon Diggs’ 7.69. His 104.0 yards per game is ahead of Travis Kelce’s 96.2. And his 1.27 touchdowns per game is better than Tyreek Hill’s 1.08.

So, it’s not the “Triple Crown,” but, rather a per-game version of it.

Adams said his focus is on Super Bowls, Larry Fitzgerald-like longevity and finding the end zone and not the weekly list of accomplishments.

“I think about scoring touchdowns a lot,” Adams said on Wednesday. “I definitely think about that. But records … the awards or little minor achievements along the way, the weekly things, hearing stuff like that makes me feel good, obviously, but that ain’t what drives me. What drives me is getting the Super Bowl and ultimately trying to be the best receiver to play this game. That’s how I attack it. That’s how I attack my day-to-day. That translates to touchdowns, which can translate to all that stuff down the road, but I’m just focused on what I need to be focused on.”

In 11 games, Adams has caught 91 passes for 1,144 yards and 14 touchdowns, figures that rank fourth, sixth and first in the NFL, respectively. Assuming he plays in the final three games, that projects to 116 receptions for 1,456 yards and 18 touchdowns over the course of his 14-game season.

And in the ultimate game of what-if, his 16-game projections – even without giving him bonus numbers after missing most of the second half of the Week 2 game against Detroit – would have been 132 receptions for 1,664 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The NFL’s single-season record for receptions is 149 by New Orleans’ Mike Thomas in 2019. If Adams reaches his 116-catch pace, that would rank No. 18 in NFL history. Had he gotten to 132, it would have ranked fifth.

The league record for receiving yards was set by Detroit’s Calvin Johnson in 2012, when he caught 122 passes for 1,964 yards but only five touchdowns. At his 14-game pace, Adams would have challenged Green Bay’s Sharpe, who ranks No. 60 all-time with 1,461 yards. The 16-game pace would have vaulted him to No. 14.

The record for receiving touchdowns belongs to Minnesota’s Randy Moss, who had 23 in 2007. Moss and Rice, who scored a staggering 22 touchdowns in 12 games in the strike-interrupted 1987 season, are the only 20-touchdown receiving seasons. If Adams gets to his 14-game pace of 18, it would tie Miami’s Mark Clayton (1984) and Sharpe (1994) for third-most all-time. The 16-game pace was 20.

In Packers history, the records are Sharpe’s 112 catches in 1993, Jordy Nelson’s 1,519 yards in 2014 and Sharpe’s 18 touchdowns in 1994. Even with two-and-a-half games on the sideline, Adams has a chance to set the Packers’ record book triple crown. Adams is on pace to beat Sharpe’s record by four receptions and match Sharpe’s record for touchdowns. Adams would need 125 yards per game the final weeks to tie Nelson’s mark.

Adams’ desire to dominate and to be legendary comes from Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant.

“It’s not just that they play that way but they live their life that way. It’s about being consistent,’ he said. “I feel like if you do that, if you go out and practice super-hard and then you go play in the game, it’s going to be a lot more natural for you. You’ll be able to catch the ball and think fast and start making plays, making people miss and turning it into the next phase of the play, rather than just catching the ball and being surprised and happy that you caught the ball. Those type of habits and that type of lifestyle that you build up and become accustomed to it just becomes second nature. It’s been something that I’ve admired from him forever, so just trying to allow that to continue to live on.”