LSU's Jamal Adams has nothing to run from ahead of NFL draft
Jamal Adams saw the tweet scroll across his timeline.
It was posted from the official account of the league he’s set to join: @NFL.
“The NFL’s highest paid safety… @Stuntman1429!” it said.
That would be Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs. Below the text was a graphic that showed the yearly average salary of the contract Berry had just signed – “$13.0M” – as well as the next closest players: Tyrann Mathieu of the Arizona Cardinals, Harrison Smith of the Minnesota Vikings and so on.
Adams, the LSU standout who’s competing to be the first safety off the board in this year’s NFL draft, felt the need to show appreciation.
He pushed the compose button on his phone and fired off a tweet quoting the one from @NFL. He simply said “Thank you all ! !”
“I owe it to those guys,” Adams told USA TODAY Sports recently in a phone call. “The safeties that are being recognized are the versatile safeties: the Tyrann Mathieus, the Eric Berrys. Those guys are being paid so high because they can do it all. I think that’s what separates me from the safeties in this draft.
“Malik Hooker is a great ball player, man. I don’t take anything away from him. But I’m more versatile. I can do everything and that’s the point that people are starting to figure out watching film.”
If Adams has his wish, not only will he drafted ahead of Hooker, the Ohio State standout, but he’ll accomplish much more.
“That tweet was just basically telling the world that they’re finally starting to realize that safeties are so valuable in the game,” Adams continued. “I just pride myself on that, man. It’s not about the money to me. I could have a dollar to play in the league. I don’t care for that right now. I just love this game. I want to be a Hall of Famer. That’s what I pride myself on. I want to be one of the best to ever do it.”
Before all that, Adams needs to check off the next box. That comes Wednesday at LSU’s pro day in Baton Rouge, La., in which he will go through many of the drills he has already done, even though he doesn’t necessarily have to.
Adams ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in a respectable 4.56 seconds. But it put him in a three-way tie for ninth out of 15 safeties who ran, and that’s what kills Adams.
“It’s about finishing,” Adams said. “I feel like my 40 could be a lot better.”
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At 6-foot and 214 pounds, however, Adams’ time helped further secure his status as a likely top-five prospect.
“I told him off,” LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond told USA TODAY Sports in a phone call. “ ‘You don’t need to run. You good. They know you can run.’ But I know the competitiveness in him, it eats at him. He wants to show everybody what he can do.”
Adams' competitiveness is evident in his play, as he anticipates plays and punishes with knock-you-off-your-cleats hits. He also blitzes from the slot, covers deep down the field and handles a nickel corner role when assigned.
“I wanted him to be able to learn how to play in the slot because that made him more valuable,” Raymond said. “It was almost like having four corners out there. But one of them was real physical.”
In his career, Adams intercepted five passes for the Tigers and broke up 15. He also collected 209 tackles, 17.5 of which went for a loss.
Despite the accolades, the permanent team captain status and the first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American honors in 2016, Adams hears the criticisms about what his value might be in the NFL. Sure, he’s versatile, faultfinders say, but is he truly great at any specific skill?
Adams shrugs it off.
“How is it a bad thing that I’m good at so many things?” he said. “I hate to say this because I don’t like to compare myself to him, but this is how I envision it – I’m like a Troy Polamalu, man. Let him play ball, let him do what he do, and let him react off of instincts. That’s my thing. There aren’t too many players who can play off of instinct, and I’ve got that locked down.”
Adams has scheduled visits with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts. More trips are expected to be set after LSU’s pro day.
Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.
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