Davante Adams has been with the Las Vegas Raiders for two months now, and it still feels strange.
But life moves fast in the NFL, and as OTAs begin, the Green Bay Packers must prepare for life after Adams. Despite the “No first-round receiver!!!!” narrative still in full swing, the Packers restocked the group in the draft with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Samori Toure. They also signed veteran Sammy Watkins in free agency.
The new blood is welcome, but it will be up to the veterans in the room to really step up to fill the absence left by Adams (as well as Marquez Valdes-Scantling). Rodgers will look to Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb as his most reliable targets. Lazard, in particular, will have plenty of opportunities to show his skills.
“Davante leaving and everything creates a lot more opportunities for everybody,” Lazard recently told Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. “I’m pretty excited about that as an individual. Even our room more so, just to be able to spread the ball around, the guys that we were able to add to our room this year— I’m very excited to work with them and see them blossom.”
A reliable No. 2 who fits beautifully in the Matt LaFleur offense, Lazard enters the season as the de facto WR1. We know LaFleur is undefeated in games Adams has missed, but how has Lazard done in his absence? Let’s find out.
2019
Davante Adams missed four games due to a toe injury in 2019.
In Week 5, Aaron Jones destroyed the Dallas Cowboys with four rushing touchdowns. Jones also led the day in receiving yards, with 75. The run game was off to an early start, so no receiver took advantage of Adams’ absence. Lazard was still a relative newcomer and had one offensive snap.
In classic Packers fashion, the team almost lost to the Detroit Lions in Week 6 until some last-minute heroics from Aaron Rodgers and Mason Crosby sealed the win. Detroit was the only game where Rodgers threw an interception in LaFleur’s stretch of wins without Adams.
Lazard scored his first professional touchdown in the fourth quarter, catching a 35-yard pass. His four receptions for 65 yards would be his first major contribution in Green Bay and a sign of his growing role in the offense.
Week 7 was arguably Rodgers’ finest game of the season, and it often gets lost in the plethora of his really good performances. He completed 25/31 passes for 429 yards and five touchdowns. Forty-two of those yards went to Allen Lazard, but none of the touchdowns. Rodgers spread the ball around evenly in this game, with Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, Jake Kumerow, Jimmy Graham, and MVS scoring.
Rodgers would have another solid performance in Week 8 against a Patrick Mahomes-less Kansas City Chiefs. Lazard caught all five of his targets for 42 yards, but Kumerow’s 48 yards would make him WR1 for the day.
2020
A hamstring injury sidelined Adams for two games.
Green Bay put on an offensive clinic in a Week 3 game where the Packers were considered underdogs because they were missing Adams and Kenny Clark. To Packers fans, it’s simply known as “The Allen Lazard Game.”
Lazard came alive against the New Orleans Saints as Rodgers’ favorite target. Lazard was starting to grow into the LaFleur offense and caught one of Rodgers’ three touchdown passes. He also accounted for a whopping 146 of Rodgers’ 283 passing yards. MVS had the next-highest yard total of any Packers wide receiver, with five. Lazard consistently helped move the chains and allowed Rodgers and the tight ends to carve up a talented Saints team.
Lazard would miss the next six games with a core muscle injury. Week 4’s Adams-less game against the Atlanta Falcons would become “The Robert Tonyan Game.”
2021
Adams tested positive for COVID before Green Bay’s matchup with the then-undefeated Arizona Cardinals. Lazard, who was unvaccinated, was considered a close contact and placed on the COVID-19/reserve list for the game. Valdes-Scantling also missed the game. Down his top three receivers, Lazard still pulled out the win in one of LaFleur’s best-coached games.
The sample size for Lazard without Adams is small. Four of those games occurred in 2019, before Lazard was a core part of the offense and had built trust with Rodgers. Lazard was sidelined in two of the remaining three games.
Green Bay will hope Lazard can replicate the Saints game from 2020 next year. He made the most of his opportunity and helped the Packers defeat a tough New Orleans team that would finish second in the NFC that year. It’s unrealistic to think Lazard will be a 150-yards-a-game receiver every week, but he can certainly lead the pass-catchers in 2022.
Adams left a significant void, but Lazard doesn’t need to be Adams. He just needs to keep being the unselfish, reliable target he’s consistently been as Rodgers and LaFleur spread the ball around, use the run game, and acclimate the new receivers to the team.
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