It’s no secret that Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford loves targeting receiver Davante Adams in goal-to-go situations. Adams has caught nine of his league-leading 14 touchdowns within five yards of the end zone.But his end zone looks are also on the verge of breaking an NFL record. According to Rich Hribar of Sharp Football Analysis, Adams’ 24 end zone targets are the second-most in a season since 2016, when Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw 26 such targets. Adams, though, theoretically has five more games this season—a lot of time to surpass Evans’ total.
We’ve written about Adams’ end zone prowess a lot this season, but his target volume in this area of the field compared to his peers is striking. He’s simply the Rams’ top option in the end zone—more than any other pass-catcher and even more than running the ball with Kyren Williams or Blake Corum.
As Hribar noted, those 24 targets represent an insane 58.5% target share in the end zone this season and are almost a quarter of his 99 targets on the year. While Adams is clearly a top-tier receiver, it’s notable to see that Adams is being utilized almost exclusively in a certain area of the field. Is it a clear and obvious strategy by head coach Sean McVay? Absolutely. But it also might be a way to leverage Adams’ skillset as a contest-catch receiver. Rather than put him in situations in the middle of the field where he’s less likely to win at the point of attack, McVay and Stafford are utilize him more as a touchdown receiver where he options are to score or not.
Every player has their role, and Adams’ role is clearly to catch passes in the end zone.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Davante Adams is seeing the most end zone targets by a WR since 2016
Reporting by Tyler Greenawalt, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
