Who is Green Bay Packers' Most Underrated Playmaker?

The Green Bay Packers are an incredibly deep team and also one of the league's youngest, which provide opportunities for many players to step up and make important plays. 

The Packers boast a handful of underrated players heading into the 2015 season. Center Corey Linsley is definitely one. He assumed the starting job from J.C. Tretter late in the preseason in 2014 after Tretter injured his knee, and he ended up starting every game through both the regular season and the playoffs.

Linsley finished the 2014 season grading out as the No. 5 center in the league by Pro Football Focus. 

Mike Daniels is one of the league's best defensive ends, but he still hasn't gotten national recognition for his skills. He was the No. 8 3-4 defensive end in the league last year, per Pro Football Focus, and is an especially productive interior pass-rusher, with six sacks, 11 hits and 24 hurries. 

At this point, however, perhaps Green Bay's most underrated playmaker is wide receiver Davante Adams, who should have a true breakout year in 2015.

Adams is well-known and highly regarded among those familiar with the Packers already after a solid rookie debut that saw him post 38 receptions for 446 yards and three touchdowns in the regular season. However, he's still not a well-known name outside Packers circles, and that could be one of Green Bay's greatest weapons this season. 

Essentially locked into the No. 3 receiver position, Adams should see his 756 snaps from 2014, per Pro Football Focus, increase, especially when the Packers run their standard three-receiver set.

With Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, who can both line up all over the Packers' formation, to account for, defenses won't be able to put their prime corners on Adams and will have to rely on safety help to contain him. 

The Packers can game-plan to exploit that fact. 

The Fresno State product was lauded heading into the draft for his athleticism and sure-handedness, two traits he demonstrated throughout his rookie year. "Broad-shouldered and well-built wideout who consistently wins at the catch-point, demonstrating good leaping ability, timing and hand-eye coordination," reads his draft profile at CBSSports.com.

The 6'1", 215-pounder's timing was perfect in the game that arguably gained him national recognition: Week 6 against the Miami Dolphins, in which Adams was on the receiving end of Aaron Rodgers' fake spike pass.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

A hungry rookie could have seen his chance to cut to the end zone and taken it, potentially letting time expire. A seasoned veteran would know the smarter move would be to run out of bounds and give Rodgers another shot at the end zone.

Though it was only the sixth game of Adams' career, the rookie wisely stepped out of bounds, a move that kept the Packers in the game. Overall, that performance was a high point of his rookie year: six catches for 77 yards. 

Adams' best game of the season by far was his Week 13 showing against the New England Patriots. In that game, Adams emerged as a reliable and effective target for Rodgers, catching six passes for 121 yards against one of the best secondaries in the league at that point. 

Adams didn't get a lot of deep looks in 2014, but he had a skillful 45-yard reception against New England that helped build trust with Rodgers. 

On this play, Adams lined up out wide and executed a skillful cut to avoid Patriots corner Logan Ryan and gain 45 yards on a slant route. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

The Patriots' game plan clearly focused on eliminating Nelson and Cobb. The way Adams stepped up allowed the Packers to exploit New England's defense, a strategy they'll hope to use again and again with Adams in 2015. 

"They're a matchup defense so if they want to try to take away Jordy and Randall—it was basically [Darrelle] Revis one-on-one with Randall and [Brandon] Browner with a little bit of help on Jordy—so we tried to get Davante involved," Rodgers said after that game, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. "And he made some big plays for us."

Rodgers targeted Adams 11 times in that game. And while he did have a drop, it was one of only four on the season per Pro Football Focus. Not bad at all.

It was Adams' only 100-yard performance in the regular season, though he did emerge as a key weapon in the divisional-round game against the Dallas Cowboys with seven receptions for 117 yards and a 46-yard touchdown. 

This offseason, Adams has been building on the confidence he gained last year and further developing a rapport with Rodgers, which should only lead to more targets and bigger catches in 2015. 

Cobb has been impressed with his fellow teammate, saying that he's going to "wake people up this year," per Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports.

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Cobb: "I think a lot of people don’t understand how good Davante Adams is going to be ... but he’s going to wake people up this year."

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 11, 2015"

Rodgers said this offseason that Adams is "going to be a star," per Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin.

Head coach Mike McCarthy has been impressed too.

"Davante, if you wanted me to pick an MVP or an all-star [of the offseason] he would definitely be atop the list," McCarthy said after minicamp practice on Tuesday, per Demovksy. McCarthy continued:

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"If you want a clear illustration and example of a first-year player taking a jump in his second year, you just saw it here the last four weeks," McCarthy said. "I think he's been tremendous throughout the OTAs, and he's got more in front of him, too, so I think that's what's exciting. I think Davante has done a great job in the strength and conditioning. He's been really, really good in practice throughout this deal."

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There you have it. Is Adams underrated to his coaches, teammates or fans? It sure doesn't sound like it. But in terms of how he's regarded in the rest of the league, it's safe to say that defensive coordinators won't be game-planning for him the same way they are Nelson and Cobb.

And that will be their mistake.