Davante Adams Gives Ravens' Lamar Jackson GOAT Flowers

Davante Adams believes the Baltimore Ravens quarterback is the greatest ever in one area.

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams (17) is stopped by Los Angeles Chargers safety Alohi Gilman (32) after a completed pass in the first half at SoFi Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Imitation is often viewed as the sincerest form of flattery, and for Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams, the player he found himself trying to imitate years ago was Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Having a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro receiver like Adams trying to imitate you is nothing to scoff at. In particular, it was Jackson's ability to break tackles and make defenders miss that Adams found himself trying to emulate and he hails the two-time MVP as the best player to ever grace the field when he has the ball in his hands.

"Going into my 2021 season, I felt like I was an area broken tackles was the area that I really wanted to focus on and push and make better," Adams said. "I was literally finding myself watching Lamar Jackson highlights in my locker before the games. Dude changed the game. He's the best, in my opinion, best ball carrier ever. You know, no matter what position you want to talk about, I don't think anybody's as big of a threat to carrying the football."

Adams had five broken tackles and had 592 yards after the catch, both of which are the second-best totals in his career. Jackson has averaged 8.83 broken tackles per season in his career. Jackson has run for 5,380 yards in his career, ranking third all-time and only trailing Cam Newton (5,628) and Michael Vick (6,109).

Through just one game, Jackson is on pace to break the record after he ran the ball 16 times for 122 yards in a 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. While there's no questioning how dynamic the two-time MVP is when he uses his legs, maintaining the workload he had on Thursday night could be tough to sustain.

"I'm not trying to find out," Jackson said. "But we've got Derrick Henry, we've got Justice Hill – those guys. But I'm going to do whatever it takes to win, and in that type of game, sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do."

Baltimore (0-1) will look to get into the win column for the first time in the 2024 season when it faces the Raiders (0-1) in its home opener at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

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