At the NFL honors, Aaron Rodgers stole the show with the ultimate award, but there was another Packer that had a chance at some hardware. Going into the night it seemed like Davante Adams and Derrick Henry would be the top two candidates for the Offensive Player of the Year award. However, Adams was not even a finalist. Henry received 32 of 50 votes while Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers each received five votes. Davante Adams probably received a vote in the remaining eight spots. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
Derrick Henry vs. Davante Adams
Both Henry and Adams are in the conversation as the best at their respective positions. Both guys are the premier weapons on their teams and had historic seasons. However, Adams played two fewer games.
Davante Adams
- 14 Games
- 1,374 Yards
- 115 Catches
- 18 Touchdowns
- First-Team All-Pro
Derrick Henry
- 16 Games
- 2,141 Total Yards
- 378 Carries
- 17 Touchdowns
- First-Team All-Pro
At first glance, it’s easy to look at the yardage numbers and give Henry the award. However, it goes beyond the numbers. Henry received 72.5 percent of the carries in the Titans rushing attack. As a running back he was the only real rusher on the Titans. On the other hand, Adams as a wide receiver did not yield the same share of touches through the air. He caught 30.9 percent of Rodgers completions and only 28.3 percent of the targets. Although Adams played two fewer games it would be impossible to catch up to Henry’s share of touches in the Titans rushing attack. Nevertheless, he still had one more touchdown than Henry. Ultimately, Adams was having to share touches and miss games and he still led the league in touchdowns and was top five in receiving yards.
Overall
Adams did give himself a good chance to win the award. However, at the end of the day voters felt that Henry’s 2,000-yard season was more deserving of the award. It’s hard to imagine a landslide vote if Davante had played the two games he missed and had hit the 20 touchdown mark.
As Always
Make sure to follow me on Twitter @Aaliyan525 and follow us @WiscoHeroics1 for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here.
