After many years apart, Davante Adams and Derek Carr have reunited on the Las Vegas Raiders. The former Fresno State teammates formed a formidable duo in college and have become Pro Bowl players in the NFL on separate teams. They’ll now be able to live out the dream of playing together in the NFL.
The two have wasted little time getting reacquainted with each other on the football field. It’s been almost a decade since they were teammates but Carr believes that the chemistry will always be there. They used to work out together in the offseason when the Raiders were still in Oakland but that stopped with the move to Las Vegas. Now that the two have hit the practice field again, there won’t be much of a learning curve, according to Carr.
“It’s been a couple of years since we got to throw together because when we moved from the Bay, again, we were like almost neighbors,” Carr said after signing his contract extension. “And we’ve always been close, having dinner at each other’s houses and things like that. And then when we moved, obviously he’s not coming out here, I wasn’t going back to the Bay. But I told my brothers — I said after the first time we threw, they’re like, ‘How was it?’ I was like, ‘Honestly, it was like riding a bike.’ Every ball is right here and the guy is so freakishly talented, he makes me look better than I actually am.
“It’s a blessing to be able to play with him not only because of the player he is, but he’s one of my best friends in the whole world. We’ve tried to plot and scheme this thing for a long time, you know? But at the end of the day, we both loved our situations. He had a great situation, I had a great situation. But we always talked about it, one day we were going to make it happen. And the opportunity came and we worked hard to try and make that happen. And the fact that it’s here, it’s exciting. We’ve had success together, but that was at the college level — completely different. But we do have confidence that we can do it at this level, too.”
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Carr Finally Gets a True No. 1 WR
The Raiders have tried to give Carr a No. 1 wide receiver for years. Amari Cooper looked like he would fill the role for a couple of seasons before he fell off and was traded. They even traded for Antonio Brown but he never played a game with the team. He’s had brief success with players like Nelson Agholor and Michael Crabtree but he’s never had a bonafide star wide receiver.
Not only does Carr now have a true No. 1 in Adams, but he arguably has the best in the league. Adams has been named to the Pro Bowl five times and was first-team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons. Opinions have been mixed on Carr in recent years but he’s rarely had a great supporting cast. He now has everything he needs to have the best season of his career.
Looks like Derek Carr & Davante Adams finally hit the practice field 👀
Adams Isn’t Worried About Getting Targets
Adams is joining a loaded Raiders offensive that has three Pro Bowl skill players in Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller and Josh Jacobs. With so many good targets for Carr to spread the ball to, Adams may not see the number of targets he was accustomed to in Green Bay. Luckily, he doesn’t care as long as the team wins.
“Pick your poison and it’ll be anybody’s day,” Adams said shortly after getting traded. “I’m a secure wide receiver, so at the end of the day I know what I bring. I told Derek, ‘Don’t feel any pressure to force me the ball … let’s just go out there and do this thing like we did before.’ Put together a pretty good resume in college together. This ain’t college but we still got that connection. Looking forward to putting it on display.”
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Derek Carr Sounds off on What It’s Like to Throw to Davante Adams Again