Davante Adams has sharp words on state of the Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams is peeved with the sad state of the Raiders.

"I've got no business being in this building" if things don't change in Las Vegas, he said, per Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (h/t Pro Football Talk).

Adams criticized the current offensive philosophy, with the team deciding they are "just going to concede and say, 'Oh, they double-teamed Tae, so it's forcing the ball to him if we threw it to him.'"

"If you think that the only way I'm going to get the ball is when I'm singled up, then I'm going to have four catches on the year. ... I think that when you have certain players, you do what you can do to get them opportunities, and that’s why I’m here. That’s why they paid me to come here and make plays," said Adams.

Las Vegas (2-6) is last in the AFC West and a far cry from the 2021 playoff team. The Raiders added Adams in a major offseason trade with the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a first- and second-round pick in the 2022 draft. 

Adams isn't the issue in Las Vegas, but the trade hasn't moved the needle for the franchise, at least not in the direction it had hoped.

Adams, 29, signed a five-year, $141.25 million contract in the offseason. The star wide receiver is entering the final years of his prime and this stop in Las Vegas could represent his last chance to win a Super Bowl. The growing sense of urgency is leading to frustrations beginning to simmer.

His criticism of the offense would suggest his problems lie with quarterback Derek Carr, but it’s head coach Josh McDaniels who is most responsible for Adams' irritation.

Per a preseason analysis from Pro Football Network on the type of offense McDaniels runs, Dalton Miller wrote, "McDaniels thrives at conjuring up easily manufactured completions that allow playmakers to thrive" and that "McDaniels' quarterbacks always got the ball out quickly on average." 

With Adams is seeing a lot of double coverage, that eliminates those, "easily manufactured completions" in which a McDaniels' offense is predicated. The philosophy of getting the ball out fast also goes against the way Adams is being utilized within the offense.

He's seeing fewer snaps as a slot receiver than a year ago, per data from Pro Football Focus. Last year, 33.3 percent of his snaps came from the slot as opposed to 29 percent this year. Putting Adams in the slot would give him a better chance to be in a position for those easy opportunities McDaniels seeks. His average depth of target this year is 12.1 yards, the highest of his career and well above his career average of 10.5 yards.

However, Adams is not ready to point the finger at coaching.

“I don’t put anything on the coaches,” Adams said. “I think that we’ve got to do our job. But when I looked at (the tape), we had plenty of opportunities. There were plays there. It’s really just execution from the players at the end of the day."

The Carr-Adams connection has been solid. Carr's passer rating when targeting Adams is 110.2, 31 points above average, per PFF. He has 48 receptions for 656 yards and seven touchdowns. He's been targeted 80 times, however, with his 60 percent reception rate on targets his lowest since 2015. He has only two drops, which goes to show it's more of a matter of putting Adams in a spot where he can get his hands on the ball than it is a sign that he's lost a step.

After eight games, McDaniels knows what teams are going to do to try to stop Adams. He’s been good enough that most teams haven't been able to stop him. The biggest hindrance to Adams' game is coming from his own sideline.