The (real) truth about Jamal Adams in coverage. 

Again, no sponsor this week (an extra special shoutout to all my Patreon brothers who support) so now let’s get serious: what is that one TV show that isn’t mainstream that you’ll die on a hill for? Mine is Nathan For You every last day of the week.

i think Jamal Adams is a classic case of a player who turns heel & has one bad season which leads to everyone saying he is overrated, when in reality he is still a pretty good player. atleast coming from a Niner fan, he plays out of his mind against us & i actually kind of like him now, very fun player

I’m so excited to see what Sean Dasai brings to the Seattle defense next year as assistant head coach. Feel like he’s really about to get them to step up and that unit will surprise people.

If the Seahawks were any good last season, he’d have gotten more praise, he had a pretty solid season.

This was a much needed video I've been screaming to people that the seahawks are getting a new defense and people have been ignoring me I wish I could just send people your vids sometimes but not everyone wants to know about football on a deeper level 😩

As a Seattle fan, I can say that Jamal Adams is still a weapon. Yes his coverage isn’t all world. But people have to understand that’s not what he’s paid to do. He was brought in to be the hammer with the upside of becoming a better coverage safety. He wasn’t brought in to be a minkah Fitzpatrick. That’s like paying Derrick Henry and asking him to catch passes like Ekler. Jamal’s disruption is what Seattle was looking for. He is a disruptive force in the box and the fact that opposing OL are sliding towards him regardless of if he’s stepping up or not shows you how much teams worry about him. And to debunk the “blitz boy” comments…. He barley blitzed last year. Like Alex said he’s played high safety the most he’s ever had. And even if he was blitzing a lot if he’s truly elite at it why stop it? And if blitzing is so easy then why isn’t every team using there Safety like that. It takes skill to blitz. You need to pass rush and time the snap perfectly. It’s harder than it looks. As far as coverage. He is average and could be better. People never take into account how injured he was the in the past 2 years. In 2020 he had a hyper extended shoulder, torn labrum, had multiple fingers broken (had to get them fused), and hamstring. And those injuries carried into 2021. But Jamal is decent in coverage with bad ball skills cause he doesn’t trust what he’s seeing. Idk what madman would let their strong safeties cover man to man. That’s a loss most of the time but everything else he’s decent at. Hopefully Seattle’s new scheme and Safety coach. Jamal “went heel” in the public eye and now he’s hated and discredited by everyone. Meanwhile in 2019 majority of fans were calling him all world cause he was winning the jets games by himself.

really nuanced analysis of Adams and our d the last couple seasons. thanks as always for covering us so well. excited to see how we and Adams do in a 3-4.

I love when you are using film to argue against stats. It kind of annoyes me that people are being so hard on Jamal Adams which is another reason why I loved this episode. Keep doing it, man!

As a jets fan and watching him he’s a player u love to have bc of his versatility. I feel social media doesn’t do him any Justice

Love this. The discourse on Adams has been so broken. Great, knowledgeable insight.

Seattle will be the one of the most competitive 5 win teams ever this year…they will remind me of the Jeff Fisher Rams

Nice to see facts backed up by visual evidence. I am tired of mainstream sports media putting forth opinions that turn into narratives, that EVERY reporter parrots. Guess it's quicker and easier to jump on a bandwagon, than to watch film.

PFF Premium Stats: Coverage Grades: 2018: 89.6 2019: 87.5 2020: 53.1 2021: 47.4 Also, last year he allowed a passer rating of 69.9, which isn't half bad.

I think a lot of the jamal adams hate comes from what the Seahawks gave up for him

Really good video , love how you really dove deep into the true game tape and not jus the social media based narratives that are so overblown in todays game.

Adams is elite; playing safety is not all about interceptions.

Alex, have you ever thought about making videos for people playing football? For example, how to do releases (show examples, like your Allen Robinson short), or how to press, etc.?

I hate to say it as a Niner fan, but I know the Seahawks are going to find a way to beat us and have an ok record this year 😞

Great video and analysis. Watching him every single Sunday the last couple years has been awesome. Our defense is so different when he’s not on the field.

DJ Reed video? very underrated undersize CB in the league!

7:28 gotta be the funniest Arron rogers joke ever

thank you for making this video 😭😭😭 everyone and i mean everyone is forgetting abt how good he can be used as a defensive weapon

Bless up❤️

Another outstanding breakdown. As a person that prefers the defensive side of the ball I really appreciate this analysis. I would love for you do to more defensive breakdown of schemes and players. Along with maybe some offensive line analysis. Perhaps a video on the Bengals O-line situation, and how the almost won the super bowl with poor pass protection, and how the upgraded that group this off season. Anyway, it’s just a thought. Thanks again my brother, keep ‘em coming. 😌✊🏾👊🏾🙏🏾

I think if he can find a common ground between his play last season and first season with the hawks he’ll be one of the best safeties. He clearly showed more coverage and ball skills last season and in his first season was an absolute beast off the rush. I’d love to see him implement the best parts of each season into his game

Everyone shits on Jamal like he’s not an all pro. He will be a beast this year

Literally my idle I don’t care about how he sometimes struggles in coverage his energy and and what he brings to the team is what I care about most

Basically, Jamal Adam’s is trashed by fans because Sidney Jones blows the coverage

On Friday I found a book at my middle school’s book sale called ‘The Art of Quarterbacking’. It was made by Ken Anderson and Jack Clary, along with demonstrations by Joe Montana, Dan Fouts, and Danny White.

I don't know, maybe I'm too optimistic, but especially paired with the most underrated player in the league in Quandre Diggs, I think we definitely have something there. Now that Bobby is gone :(

Honestly one of the best football video I’ve seen. Really well explained!

You are misleading by saying PFF ranks him as the 105th best safety. If you filter by players who played at least 600 snaps (half the defensive snaps), his grade was 46th, right behind Logan Ryan and ahead of Eddie Jackson. Would you say that his play in 2021 was not reflective of that ranking and general placement around Ryan/Jackson? Since being asked to cover away from the line of scrimmage more often, his coverage grade has struggled. Would you disagree that he has had a number of coverage errors that a below average coverage safety also makes? He has also had a big jump in missed tackles (possibly another side effect of coming from depth more often), which has significantly affected his overall grade (23 in 2020-21 vs 13 in 2018-19, despite playing about 350 fewer snaps). PFF grade isn't a picture of a player's talent, but his production. Adams' play overall was slightly below average, despite him having the talent to be better with reps. BUT, he is clearly a talented player who has the potential to improve with more reps in this new role. (Or, he may just by limited to playing closer to the box most of the time, where he can be a dynamo. Time will tell).

I'd like to see him doing a bunch of different pass rushes this year, so he is less predictable when he is blitzing

Thank you for this video finally people see this, great video.

Great stuff. I have been puzzled about Adams all season.

Great work Alex. I am excited to see what having someone like Desai focusing on the back end can do w Jamal/Diggs/Blair…now that Jamal is more experienced in coverage, they can actually use him as the Queen in chess. The threat wasn’t there when he was one dimensional…I’m praying for something revolutionary…

THANK YOU! Jamal can be a huge presence on the field, but I did notice how often they dropped him back before he got injured and noticed how well he was reading plays. Felt like he got better with every rep. Excited to see how he plays next season where they're gonna lean on his talent more now that the D-Line is starting to mature and gel, most likely not needing him as heavily as they did a couple years ago.

Super underrated

'Everyone is wrong' - when you use absolutist titles like that, it alludes you're also wrong ....

Glad you did this Alex ! Still one of the top safeties in this league .. once a narrative it won’t end because many don’t watch or understand film & football .. last year in ways was the jamal I'm accustomed to from his time with NYJ ( wasn’t talked about much he battled injuries in 2020) isn’t by any means a great coverage safety I’d say as in elite but surely good - really good there with range instincts recovery speed when healthy imo .. what he does in the run game an in the box speaks for itself..

Would Ryback be a better fit than Jamal Adams?

They fell in love with the idea of having their own version of the legion of boom and let Mister Wilson go

He has talent when he feels like using it. Sometimes he just watches the play and doesn't even try to tackle

I’m glad the defense is exciting, because with Drew Lock as qb, your going to be seeing the defense play a lot!

Can u do a video on the Vikings. I’m interested to see how their personnel fits the Rams O scheme that the new HC will bring

Adams is the perfect example of why PFF isn’t the best way to rank players. They’ve proven time and time again that they don’t know how to rank safeties. That’s not necessarily a knock on them, it just proves the fact that unless you are the one coaching that team, you have no idea what the safety is supposed to do. Safety is one of the hardest and most difficult positions in football, and therefore almost impossible to rank accurately without looking at every team’s playbook

God I can't wait for the season to start

Awesome breakdown. Probably not a popular request, but is there any chance you would do a breakdown of the cover-0 streak in Dolphins/Ravens last season?

Missed opportunity not getting Dollar Shave Club to sponsor, their specialty is boxed safeties.

am I going crazy or does another football content creator also use that same intro I can't remember who

4:11 Pretty sure that’s just Cover 2, not Cover 6, but I really loved the overall video. In NY under Todd Bowles, they ran a good amount of two high shells and he didn’t have a problem executing coverages out of it. As you pointed to the biggest regression with him has been his man tech, he was a lot better playing catch man in NY than he’s been in SEA. I think that’s because they simply don’t practice their man tech over in SEA, or if they do, not well enough.

I think the Seahawks defense will be Great because we have better corners

you can rank Adams anywhere you want, still isn't worth 2 1st rd picks. Seattle got fleeced by the Jets

He was never what he thought he was

Thank you joe Douglas got rid of blitz boy for two firsts

Could you please do a costal Carolina ofdense video

6 years ago they basically had 4 Jamal Adams in that secondary, they fucked for the next couple years tho

Good vid

Best Seahawk analysis I've ever heard. Liked and Subscribed.

I think the reason is because the Seahawks could definitely have used those 2 firsts that they gave up. Jets basically got AV tucker and garret Wilson. And the Seahawks got Jamal adams and Coby Bryant. A player like Jamal adams is definitely a luxury player. You would rather have a derwin James or Jesse bates but adams is still one of the better safety’s in the leauge. I think the Seattle scheme isn’t as good for him because with the jets he was basically allowed to freestyle which he really excels at especially when it comes to sacks and forced fumbles. He still has time to get better at the pass game

Finally someone gets it. As a Dolphins fan I literally shit my pants when Adams left the AFC east. He is the best safety since Troy Polamalu and should be first ballot HOF

I have confidence. #TeamAdams

My cousin need to come to the Saints.

The only reason people think he’s overrated and bad is because he had one mediocre season in Seattle, then the rest of the team fell apart. Adams has never been a bad player. He’s just a guy whose very meme-able because he talks shit and he’s on a bad team. He’s not bad at all.

I love your work Alex but you can't really be sure who messed up on the 3:30 clip. We have no clue how they decided to play that post wheel. Just because the safety looked over to take #1 doesn't really tell us anything because of the 49ers formation. I would agree with you against that formation that's how it should be covered but alot of defenses want that curl flat defender to run with that wheel. I love Adams and agree that the narrative is harsh. That's what happens tho when you get drafted so high and another team trades so much for you. He's one of the best safeties I've seen around the line of scrimmage but I do think he can be a liability in coverage

Blitz boy blitz boy

Titan up 🏈

The best ability is availability.

I'd rather the Seahawks have Earl Thomas in his prime. How about a cost/benefit analysis of their two contracts to the defense.

105th. Just doesn’t seem plausible with a player with his talent and athleticism

I really don't get why so many people think The Seahawks are gonna be so bad they're in contention for the top pick. First off they have a great safety duo in Adams and Diggs, and a great WR duo with Metcalf and Lockett. No one actually believes they're gonna go into the season with Drew Lock or Geno Smith as their quarterback, and even if they did, the team is just too talented to lose that much. And think of the talent they added this offseason: Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, Charles Cross, Kenneth Walker.

Hes going to put some wood on receivers. I cant imagine what its like having JA running at you full speed.

Really enjoyed this one, few picks this year and people will be on the bandwagon

I dont think many question if hes a good player or not. The question is, was he worth the 2 1st round picks Seattle gave up for him. The answer is absolutely not.

They should convert him to a LB and play to his strengths.

Why don’t you have a “THANKS” button so we can donate? Top billin has it.

Adams has been a well below average overall SS for SEA to date and has been horrendous in coverage thus far. Given the amount of top picks SEA traded away to land Adams and the big money extension he was later signed to its safe to the return on investment has been poor as he hasn’t been good. SEA probably has the third best overall safety duo in the NFCW .

As a Niners fan, I sincerely hope Adams proves the Haters right.

I never thought he was terrible, I just thought what they gave up for a guy who has so little impact on their team was hilariously terrible. I don't blame Wilson for bailing the first real chance he got afterwards.

Jamal is BEST in the NATION at finding new and unique ways to hurt himself and miss games......hope he doesn't slip on a banana peel in August and then miss another 16 games in 2023.

Blitz boy!

Still can’t believe Seattle traded two 1st for a Safety that can’t really cover all that well. Incredible lol

1:33 you clearly see his horrible coverage/ball skill reads. This play could have been an interception. He just doesn’t have the correct skill set or mindset to cover this correctly. Offenses abuse this allllll the time. They know they can. Film shows it. Just my opinion.

It’s all cool if Hawks defense did not suck last seasons

Blitz boy

I woulda moved him to line backer reminds me of Micah Parsons but Micah bigger

I love Jamal

Eye test vs stats

Jamaal was acquired for the same haul Wilson was traded away for. The Seahawks effectively evaluated jamaal as equal in value to Wilson. Jamaal will never be worth that, no matter how good or bad he is he cannot fix the defense because he is not that level of a player (and the rest of our defense kinda sucks).

PFF defensive grades are borderline useless.

Lol blitz boy is a liability in coverage, he owns Gregg Williams some $$$ for getting him that contract. Happy we didn’t pay him

Our man Alex continues to up all our football IQs! 🔥

My stance on Adams, based on this video, is fair. The trade for him was a serious overpay and his man coverage isn’t where I’d expect a player of his caliber to be. He’s not terrible but he’s not the superstar Seattle thought he was. He still could be but not yet.

They really need to trade Adams if he is having a good half of the year to get one of those 1rsts back. Let Blair play. He is better anyways. Seattle needs to tank for bryce. Then go on a spending spree next year and make the superbowl and win it before the mariners show them up

Bro your wrong Jamal said he played the same shit with the jets so he is Familiar with the scheme

He's the best in the nation

Adams should get converted to Linebacker! Fits him well imo!

Poyer is better.

That's a good man need to go to the bronco with Russell Wilson

90% of football fans don’t understand football.