The 2015 offseason MVP award went to Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams, who garnered oodles of praise from Aaron Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy.
After flashing in offseason practices and the preseason, Adams was expected to explode, especially after Jordy Nelson's season-ending injury. Instead, his second season was a dud.
"Obviously, the season I had last year, I wasn't proud of it. So I've got to change it and do what I've got to do to move forward," Adams said, via ESPN.com. "It's a new year. Obviously, not everything goes the way you plan it to go. You can't control some things. I hurt my ankle, I hurt my knee; I can't do anything about that. What I can do is bounce back from it.
"It's not just (about) proving it to the team but proving it to myself."
Injuries played a big role. Adams never seemed right after turning his ankle in Week 2. He then suffered a knee injury in the Wild Card game and missed the Divisional Round. While injuries to his lower body derailed part of his season -- especially the explosion on receiver screens -- it doesn't resolve the inexplicable drops and lack of focus that defined Adams' 2015 campaign.
Missing the Divisional Round was doubly painful, because fellow receiver Jeff Janis burst onto the scene versus the Cardinals. There has been chatter this offseason that Janis could (or perhaps should) unseat Adams for the Packers' third receiver spot.
But not everyone is ready to give up on Adams just yet.
"Davante has a lot of potential," Rodgers said. "He's a talented guy. He's very athletic. He can do a lot of things out there. For him, it's just (important to) continue to stack confidence."
Adams now needs to turn that potential and confidence into production when the plays actually matter this September.
