Through 11 games this season, Davante Adams has shined to the tune of the best season of his career thus far.
Having already eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving barrier, Adams has hauled in 77 receptions (tied for sixth in the NFL) for 1,022 yards (eighth) and 10 touchdowns (fourth).
Alas, Adams doesn't believe he's getting the respect his talent warrants and certainly not the respect that the best wideout in the game deserves.
"I think I'm the best receiver in the NFL. I do," Adams said Thursday via Packersnews.com's Ryan Wood.
"I just want to get the respect that I deserve," Adams said.
So far, Adams' numbers in the receiver triple crown categories of catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns are all in the top eight, a stat line matches this season only by Minnesota's Adam Thielen and New Orleans' Michael Thomas.
He's also within striking distance of Packers records in all three statistics as Sterling Sharpe's 18 touchdown catches in 1994, Sharpe's 112 receptions in '93 and Jordy Nelson's 1,519 yards in 2014 could seemingly be caught or surpassed by Adams (though the TD mark is likely a stretch).
Those numbers, however, haven't moved Adams into the conversation of higher-echelon talents, according to the fifth-year talent.
"I feel like if you ask people," Adams said, "certain people will say that I'm a top receiver. But if you ask people to name their top receivers, they won't mention me. So that's where the disrespect is coming from. I don't think they say, 'Davante Adams sucks.' But they think that top five, they put the same celebrities in there every time."
Adams' catch and yards numbers are already career-highs and he's just two touchdowns away from matching his career-best of 12 in 2016. Perhaps most telling is he's played in all 11 games so far and he's yet to start all 16 games in a season yet.
More than anything, perhaps, Adams' notoriety will grow simply by establishing himself as a consistent talent.
"I think I just need to put together a resume that reflects what I'm saying," he said. "It's not fair for me at this point to say this, or to stand on the podium and scream out to the world I'm the best, but I feel like I'm the best receiver at this point in my career. Where I'm at with my abilities, I feel like I am the best.
"I just have to continue doing what I'm doing. With that comes more recognition."