May 28, 2025; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams receiver Davante Adams (17) during organized team activities at Rams Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Who is Better: Rams' Davante Adams or Commanders' Deebo Samuel

Originally posted on Los Angeles Rams on SI
By Brock Vierra | Last updated Jun 25, 2025 7:00 AM ET

When Davante Adams was traded from the Green Bay Packers to the Las Vegas Raiders following the 2021 season, the move was seen by many as brilliant. In fact, the Raiders had one of the best offenses on paper, with Adams joining Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller, Josh Jacobs, Derek Carr, Foster Moreau, and Mack Hollins making up a unit ready to restore glory to the Silver and Black.

The problem was that the Raiders' head coach is Josh McDaniels, a man I believe to be a locker room obliterator who is the offensive version of Dennis Allen (who was also the Raiders' head coach at one point). What I mean by that is that McDaniels and Allen are solid coordinators who can't lead a team, often being fired midseason, with their rosters wanting to attack them.

Now, the players may have a different perspective on McDaniels, but that's neither here nor there. The main point is that everyone was excited about Adams until the Raiders as a whole suffered due to McDaniels. Adams was and is still that top player, but for some reason, despite making similar offseason moves, CBS Sports' Josh Edwards stated that the Washington Commanders had the fifth-best offseason while the Rams weren't ranked at all.

"Washington deployed an aggressive strategy similar to the one Houston conducted following C.J. Stroud's rookie campaign," wrote Edwards. "Ironically, the former's strategy entailed the trade for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. And instead of trading for Stefon Diggs, the Commanders acquired Deebo Samuel. In the short term, it sends a message that the franchise is looking to accelerate its timeline, but future assets were sacrificed to make that happen."

"It was important to bring back offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury even though he had interest elsewhere."

The Commanders added Laremy Tunsil. The Rams brought back Alaric Jackson. At the very least, that's a wash, but Jackson was better than Tunsil last season.

The Commaders retained Kliff Kingsbury. The Rams retained Sean McVay and Mike LaFleur.

However, the biggest moves for each franchise were the acquisitions of Adams and Samuel. Both are coming off down years, but a down year for the 32-year-old Adams is a 1,000+ yard season with 8 touchdowns.

For Samuel, it's 670 receiving yards, 806 total yards, and four total touchdowns.

So what did the Commanders do right that the Rams didn't?

Oh, and the answer for who's better is Adams.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Rams on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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