Why Raiders’ Derek Carr compares this rookie to former Fresno State teammate Davante Adams
Derek Carr always trusted Davante Adams when they were teammates for two seasons at Fresno State.
That trust led to staggering numbers for the Bulldogs as the wide receiver finished his collegiate career with 3,030 yards and 38 touchdowns — all thrown by Carr.
Adams’ 38 touchdowns set a school and Mountain West record.
When the Las Vegas Raiders selected wide receiver Bryan Edwards in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft, Carr saw a resemblance of Adams in Edwards.
“He’s very violent and aggressive in his cuts, in and out of his cuts,” Carr said Tuesday. “He reminds me of, when the ball is in the air, of Davante (Adams). Great ball skills. Davante is someone where there’s just a trust. I could throw it up, 1-on-1 and them 50/50 balls were 98/2 for us — and the two meaning something fluke happened like his shoe came off.
“Our goal line offense at Fresno State was throw a fade. When (Michael) Crabtree was here, our goal line offense was hand it off or throw a fade to Crab. He (Edwards) reminds me of that kind of guy, someone that not only can use his physicalness in the route, but also when the ball is in the air, some of those catches you watch him run. He runs a double post, he runs a fade against Tennessee. He runs a fade at home at South Carolina.”
Adams, listed at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft.
The 6-foot-3 Edwards made his mark at South Carolina.
He set school records for consecutive games with a catch (48), career receptions (234) and career receiving yards (3,045).
Carr said he watched Edwards’ games and was impressed with what he saw, including the one-handed touchdown catch he made against Tennessee that caught national headlines.
Carr wondered why Edwards wasn’t talked about in the draft until the Raiders selected him.
“You sit there and you’re like, ‘Bro, this guy you can tell. This guy has a freak talent. Why is he not talked about in the first round kind of thing.’
“Then you hear about the injuries and all those kinds of things and you’re like, ‘OK, well good for us.’ You get a guy in that room. I remember (Raiders coach Jon) Gruden telling me, he said, ‘Look, I like this guy and I like that guy.’ And the two guys he said that he liked, the next day we drafted both of them. It was pretty impressive how that worked out.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 4:19 PM.
