In the 2010 California Division I State Championship game, Paly senior Davante Adams, playing with an injured ankle, hauled in four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown en route to helping the Vikings defeat the Corona Centennial Huskies 15-13. Less than two months later Adams signed his national letter of intent to play Division I football for the Fresno State University Bulldogs. Since then Adams’ football career has taken off and he has not looked back.
Although he was redshirted his first year at Fresno State, that did not stop Adams from being recognized as a stand out player as he won the Dick Duncan Scout Team Player of the Year award for offense.
“Davante, he [is] not a regular freshman, he’s going to do real well,” fellow Fresno State wide receiver Josh Harper said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.
Despite winning the Scout Team Player of the Year award as a freshman, Adams was not on the Bulldogs first-team offense when pre-season training camp began in late July. However Adams quickly changed that.
Before the first week of training camp was over Adams had moved his way up from the bottom of the depth chart all the way to the top, passing returning starters along the way.
“From the first day I walked in, Davante seemed determined to be a great football player,” Bulldogs receivers coach Ron Antoine said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.
After earning his starting spot Adams got off to a blazing start and has continued to stay hot for the rest of the season. In his first game as a redshirt Freshman Adams had seven receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns, making him the first Fresno State player ever to have more than 100 receiving yards in his first-ever career game. Adams’ best performance came in a recent game against The University of New Mexico in which he collected nine receptions for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Even more impressive is that as a redshirt Freshman Adams is currently leading all Bulldogs wide receivers with 907 total yards, 10 touchdowns, and an average of just over 90 yards per game. Adams’ 10 touchdowns puts him second on the team in scoring, trailing only Senior running back Robbie Rouse, and his 71 receptions is the most of any Division I FBS freshman wide receiver, and tied for 5th out of all wide receivers. Adams’ 907 receiving yards gives him the 9th most receiving yards in all of division I college football. He is also tied for 5th in wide receiver touchdowns.
People outside of Fresno State have also started to take notice of what Adams is doing. After an impressive game in which he caught eight passes for 102 yards against San Diego State University, Adams was added to the 2012 Biletnikoff Award watch list. This makes Adams one of only three freshmen nominated for the Biletnikoff Award, which is presented to the best wide receiver in college football every year.
Adams has helped lead the Bulldogs to a 7-3 record (5-1 in conference play), with one of their losses coming at the hands of the number three ranked Oregon Ducks, in a game that saw Adams rack up 12 catches for 92 yards. Fresno State’s 7-3 mark makes them eligible to play in a bowl game this season. Because he was redshirted his first year at Fresno State, Adams could elect to leave Fresno State and enter the NFL draft after his sophomore season. Adams is the rare combination of size and speed that is very attractive to NFL scouts. Standing at 6’2’’ and weighing 200 pounds as a freshman, Adams is still able to run the 40 yard dash in under 4.5 seconds. Many people have begun to speculate that if Adams continues to put up the the same type of stats he has in his first college football season, it is not unlikely that Adams could be playing on Sundays by the fall of 2014.
” [Davante] is crazy good.” Fresno State Quarterback Derek Carr told the Orlando Sentinel. When the football is in the air, no one wants it more than Davante. He’s the type of receiver I like throwing to.”
