Fantasy Football: Davante Adams expects MVP season for Aaron Rodgers

Adams also said he's the best wide receiver in the NFL. Jamey Eisenberg spoke with the confident Adams this offseason and looks at his Fantasy Football outlook for 2019.

Davante Adams knows what's coming this year. He can feel it.

Adams is expecting Aaron Rodgers to dominate in 2019 and re-establish himself as the No. 1 quarterback in the NFL.

Adams said Rodgers will "come out MVP" when all is said and done.

"He knows who he is, and he knows what he's capable of," Adams said of Rodgers in an interview with CBS Sports at the Pro Bowl. "He has all the ability. He'll show he still has a lot left in the tank. We'll see exactly how it pans out."

Along with saying Rodgers is the best quarterback in the NFL, Adams also talked about another player in Green Bay being No. 1 at his position -- himself. He didn't sound cocky or brash in calling himself the best receiver in the league, and he also praised other wideouts like Antonio Brown and Julio Jones.

But Adams believes no defensive back can stop him. And he's confident enough to call himself the best at what he does.

"It's nothing against anybody else," said Adams, who had 111 catches for 1,386 yards and 13 touchdowns on 169 targets last year. "I just don't feel like anybody can guard me. ... There's no drill that you can do as a DB to get ready for what I do on the field. If you can't guard me then it's not really if I'm better than AB or Julio or whoever. We can all be the best, but I feel like I'm the best. Every elite receiver should feel like you're the best. I just trust in myself in what I can do. That's that."

Adams can make a strong case about being the No. 1 receiver -- at least when it comes to his Fantasy value. And he's my No. 1 receiver in non-PPR leagues and No. 2 receiver in PPR. I'm drafting Adams as a top-10 pick in any format.

In 2018, Adams finished as the No. 2 PPR receiver behind DeAndre Hopkins, who scored 334 points compared to 329 for Adams. But Adams didn't play in Week 17. On a per-game basis, Adams was No. 1 at 21.9 PPR points per game.

"I feel like I have a rare skill-set with my quickness and my size," Adams said. "It kind of throws people off. It's deceptive with my speed. They're not always used to it. They don't realize it's about the presentation of how you make things look."

That presentation might look even better in 2019 with new coach Matt LaFleur. After 13 seasons as Green Bay's head coach, Mike McCarthy was fired in 2018. Many NFL pundits felt his offense had become a little stale.

LaFleur, the offensive coordinator for the Rams (2017) and Titans (2018) the past two years, was brought in as the new head coach, and there already seems to be a difference during OTAs.

The Athletic's Michael Cohen, who covers the Packers, offered an example. Cohen wrote, "One of the most glaring visual differences between LaFleur's offense and the one by former coach Mike McCarthy is the former's reliance on condensed formations, the use of which seemed to increase during the red-zone session. Where McCarthy preferred to spread his receivers across the field - often times with equal distance between them, stretching toward the sideline - LaFleur enjoys clustering his receivers near the end of the offensive line, a staple of the Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan systems."

Cohen added: "From an offensive perspective, the benefits of narrower formations include varying the types of releases for wide receivers (who are no longer walled off by the sideline), reducing the efficacy of press coverage (because it's more difficult to press without the sideline) and increasing the chances of natural pick routes (as wide receivers break from the trio and cross each other's paths within the first few yards)."

Adams, according to The Athletic, said the changes are a "win-win for the offense." When I spoke to Adams at the Pro Bowl, he told me he couldn't wait to start working with LaFleur.

He was also looking forward to how LaFleur would use him.

"There's only so many routes in the world," Adams said. "I'm still going to be running all the same routes I was before. Different concepts and probably moving me around a little more, which will only help. To be able to get inside a little more, things like that, will make it easier."

With Randall Cobb gone, Adams will see more time in the slot, which should make him harder to defend. But the Packers have a plethora of receivers to use in a variety of spots.

Geronimo Allison is back after an injury-marred 2018, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling showed promise as a rookie last year. LaFleur also has Jake Kumerow, Equanimeous St. Brown and J'Mon Moore to play with in his various formations.

The main Fantasy options of this group will be Adams, Allison and Valdes-Scantling, and Allison is one of my favorite receivers to target on Draft Day in all leagues with a mid-round pick. He has top 20 upside in 2019.

He was really only healthy for the first four games of the season in 2018 because of a groin injury, but he had 19 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns on 29 targets over that span. Over 16 games, that would be 76 catches for 1,156 yards and eight touchdowns. Hopefully he stays healthy this year.

Valdes-Scantling benefited with Allison getting hurt, scoring double digits in PPR in six of his final 12 games. He's a good receiver to stash on your bench and could really blow up if Adams or Allison get hurt this season.

Hopefully, guys like Allison and Valdes-Scantling support Adams enough to put Rodgers back on top of the quarterback mountain. He's my No. 1 Fantasy quarterback this season, but the consensus rankings on Fantasy Pros have Patrick Mahomes and Andrew Luck ahead of him, which is understandable.

In 2018, Rodgers struggled and finished as the No. 9 Fantasy quarterback with 4,442 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and two interceptions, as well as 269 rushing yards and two touchdowns. It's the fewest touchdown passes he's ever thrown while playing in at least 15 games. But he had a legitimate excuse for his struggles.

Rodgers revealed in April that he played last season on a sprained left knee, as well as a broken leg. He suffered the injury in the first half of Week 1 against Chicago, which was diagnosed as a tibial plateau fracture and sprained MCL. Ouch.

Still, he was out there every week, and Fantasy owners started him in every game. He scored at least 20 Fantasy points just nine times, and he only had more than 25 points five times.

That's not why you draft Rodgers. You draft Rodgers for 30-plus Fantasy points on a regular basis, and hopefully that happens this season. I'm expecting a rebound season, and LaFleur is looking forward to working with Rodgers.

"Every day I walk into Lambeau Field, I get chills on the back of my neck because it's such a historic organization and what an incredible opportunity," LaFleur said. "When you get to work with, not only a guy like Aaron, but there's a lot of talented players on our football team. I'm ready."

It should be a fun season for the Packers in 2019. And Adams and Rodgers have the chance to be the best players at their respective positions.

Adams is confident it will happen. You should be also.