Davante

Adams

Adams cashed in on a corner fade from four yards out in the second quarter and ran a beautiful route on a double move slant from five yards out for his second score in the fourth quarter, proving that he remains an elite red zone weapon for an offense that has now attempted 51 or more passes in three straight games. Adams is back to modest target rates following the Week 4 return of Puka Nacua but remains a weekly WR2 due to his red zone acumen, which remains true ahead of a much more forgiving matchup against the Cardinals in Week 6.

Adams was the victim of a bad Matthew Stafford ball or two in rainy Philadelphia conditions, but he sadly immediately reverted to clear No. 2 wideout status with Puka Nacua back in the lineup. Nacua went off for 9/125. Adams now has seven catches for 58 scoreless yards in two games with Nacua in the lineup compared to 15/332/2 in two games without. Hopefully that trend normalizes a bit for a potential Week 5 shootout with the Bills.

Adams’ 137 yards combine with the 195 yards he erupted for in Week 2 to set a new high in receiving yards in consecutive games during his remarkable career. Even more stunning was the fact that he did so against one of the top corners in the league in Pat Surtain, who shadowed Adams for all but a handful of his routes, proving his ability to get open against top competition even in the later stages of his career. Puka Nacua missed both Week 2 and Week 3 and his injury timeline remains convoluted, at best. Adams will remains a top-tier WR1 should Nacua miss more time, and would be solid WR2 should Nacua return for a Week 4 meeting with the Eagles.

In a surprisingly candid interview with ESPN Los Angeles, McVay certainly did not sound optimistic that Nacua would play in Week 3. Nacua has already missed one practice this week and there’s been no indication that he will get back on the field over the next two days. Davante Adams racked up 195 yards and two scores with Nacua out in Week 2. It will be hard not to rank him as a WR1 once Nacua is ruled out. Terrance Ferguson operated as the team’s No. 2 receiver last week and will be in the TE1 mix without Nacua.

Sean McVay was unsure if Nacua would be able to play in Week 3 when asked about it on Tuesday. A DNP today suggests Nacua will need at least one more week of rest before returning to the lineup. Terrance Ferguson finished second on the Rams in targets last week with nine. He caught six passes for 54 yards and a score. No receiver outside of Davante Adams was targeted more than two times. Adams was utterly dominant, turning his 10 targets into 195 yards and two scores. Those are the only two major beneficiaries of Nacua’s likely absence.

Adams seamlessly stepped into the alpha role in the offense in the absence of Puka Nacua, routinely making absurd catches on the perimeter while also showcasing his adept route-running abilities in the open field. His first touchdown came on a deep post route following a double move, during which he strode beyond three defenders. He would cash in again from 11 yards out on a fade to the corner of the end zone. Adams remains a top-tier WR2 with WR1 upside when the Rams take on the Broncos in Week 3.

There was plenty of talk about how great Adams looked in the precursor to the season, but it wasn’t on display in Week 1. The 33-year-old had a long gain of just 13 yards, and he and Matthew Stafford were unable to find many openings against the San Francisco secondary. Adams will get a chance to rebound in Week 2 in a Monday Night Football contest against the Giants.

“If there was concern over whether Adams still had it as a perimeter wide receiver at age 33, this camp has put a lot of those questions to rest,” Atkins said, adding Adams had retained his otherworldly connection with Matthew Stafford. “Adams looks fresh and explosive, and he was virtually uncoverable in the joint practices against the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.” Atkins conceded that the Rams “might have to get creative again with load management at times” to ensure Adams can get through a whole season without injuries. A whole training camp with Stafford — something he didn’t have in 2025 — could make Adams one of the sneakier wideout selections outside the first couple rounds of fantasy drafts.

McVay said he was up front with Adams about the possibility of a trade earlier this offseason, but said the team ultimately decided that trading the 33-year-old receiver wouldn’t do much to benefit the team. Adams caught 60 passes for 789 yards in his first season with the Rams, playing second fiddle to Puka Nacua, but still managed to haul in a league-leading 14 touchdowns while operating as one of the premier end zone threats in the league. The veteran receiver is under contract through next season and should continue to thrive in the role he was in last season, putting him in the conversation as a fringe WR2/WR3 with plenty of touchdown upside.

Financial investments at the wide receiver position could have been the Rams’ primary motivating factor, though having three high-end wide receivers can hardly be viewed as a negative, albeit a pricey one. Nacua is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will presumably sign “a significant second contract” soon. Adams is due $24 million this season and Brown is set to make $29 million. Florio believes today might have been the Rams’ self-imposed deadline for trading Adams away because his $6 million roster bonus just became fully guaranteed. It appears as though Adams will remain a Ram for 2026, but anything is possible. Stay tuned.