Davante Adams: 'I Thought I Was Going to the Carolina Panthers'
During the Marty Hurney era, the Panthers oftentimes hit on its first round pick but failed to find much talent beyond that.
In the 2014 NFL Draft, it was the other way around, to some extent. The Panthers drafted OL Trai Turner and S Tre Boston in the third and fourth rounds respectively, each turned out to be solid starters in the league. Meanwhile, the first round pick of Kelvin Benjamin did not turn out well at all.
After his rookie season, many around the league felt that the Panthers had something with Benjamin as he hauled in 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns. His production would decrease in each of the next two seasons and a rocky relationship with starting quarterback Cam Newton led to Benjamin being traded to the Buffalo Bills. He spent two years in Buffalo and was essentially a non-factor with just 39 receptions. He caught on with the Chiefs at the end of the 2018 season, but played in only three games making two catches.
Exactly one year ago, Benjamin attempted to make a comeback but as a tight end instead of a receiver. He signed with the New York Giants, but was cut by the team in late July.
Now, Panthers fans are about to be really ticked. Instead of drafting Benjamin 28th overall, they could have had Davante Adams. The new Raiders star wide receiver explained in an interview with Eric Allen how he truly felt like he was destined to end up in Carolina.
"I was projected to go first, second, third round—but there was a lot of teams that were interested in me in the first. So had the ESPN camera crews come to the crib. Everybody there. Had a bunch of my family at the house. My mom’s small apartment—we packin’ that thing out. Right out the gate, I keep hearing all these names called. Bunch of receivers. It’s a lot of receivers going early and I don’t hear my name. And I’m like, ‘Okay, this is weird.’ Couple of teams said they was interested in me, picking not even receivers. So now I’m like, now I’m getting nervous. And we get to the end, I think at 28, I thought I was going to the Carolina Panthers. That’s who talked to me the most. They picked Kelvin Benjamin. I took my earpiece out, everything. I’m telling people to leave.”
As for Adams, well, he's only turned out to be the best receiver in the entire NFL. In his eight years in the league, Adams has totaled 669 receptions for 8,121 yards and 73 touchdowns. The last couple of years have been hard on Panthers fans as it is, but this is a tough one to swallow.
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