Davante Adams is not the reason the Los Angeles Rams lost their season opener to the San Francisco 49ers. To boil it down to that would be insane.
That being said, if the Rams want to hit their offensive peak this season, they will need more out of the former All-Pro.
It’s completely fair to assume Adams will produce at a relatively high level again. He has a game that should age well (and already has). Barely anyone on the entire roster played well at The MCG this week, so it’s not like he stuck out
for his lackluster performance.
And, as Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football says, Week 1 is a liar. We get bizarre results and head-turning performances, for both good and bad reasons, every year during Week 1. Given the unique circumstances of this particular game, it’s understandable if you want to flush it, chalk it up to a weird situation and move on.
But, speaking in generalities, the version of Adams we saw on Thursday isn’t conducive to the Rams’ offense being the best version of itself. Counting stats and advanced metrics alike will tell you how disappointing his season opener was. Three catches, 26 yards, no touchdowns, -1.7 total EPA generated (per RBSDM), -9.9% catch rate over expected (per NFL Pro).
Simply put, that’s brutal.
This isn’t intended to be some kind of hit piece on Adams. This is coming from the same blogger who advocated for his Hall of Fame credentials this offseason. And there are at least some surface-level reasons to be concerned about what he can produce in 2026, given his age, an increase in injuries in recent seasons, etc.
It’s a combination of factors that make this scenario a bit hairy for the Rams. If Adams declines year over year at a steeper rate than most people expected, is there enough talent among the other pass catchers to overcome his drop in production? Are you at all concerned about Matthew Stafford? If you are, it probably won’t assuage your feelings if his No. 2 target isn’t just as dangerous as he was in his first year with the club.
If Adams drops off and Stafford is a bigger question mark, suddenly the Los Angeles offense is stuck in a far more tenuous position than the NFL world could have imagined.
Hence, the overall point. You don’t have to believe the Week 1, 2026 version of Davante Adams is the one the Rams will have to work with all season. The odds of that being the case are still quite low. But that performance does shine a blindingly bright spotlight on how important it is for him to play at a higher level as this season continues.
As has been discussed ad nauseum all summer, the Rams have built a receiver corps around Puka Nacua, Adams and a slew of role players, if that. That room’s success hinges, largely, on what No. 17 can do this year. If that mirrors what he did in Week 1, there’s reason to be concerned about this passing attack.
