Seahawks safety Jamal Adams: The most misunderstood DB in the NFL

Jamal Adams is a one-man wrecking crew in the pass rush.

Jamal Adams is a force in the pass rush. When big plays need to be made, you can bet that he will be found wreaking havoc on defense. In fact, he broke the record for most sacks amongst defensive backs in a single season several weeks ago.

The crazy part about it, Adams did it in 6 fewer games than the previous record holder. To put this feat into perspective, if Adams played in all 16 games this season, his current projection would have him at 15 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss on the season.

15 sacks would have been enough for him to finish 4th out of all defensive players last year. Above players like TJ Watt (14.5), Danielle Hunter, (14.5), Za’Darius Smith (13.5), and Aaron Donald (12.5).

Now let’s talk about the efficiency in which he is producing these sacks. Let’s compare TJ Watt and Jamal Adams pass-rushing output this year.

Player                           Adams           Watt
Pass rush snaps         79                    407
Sacks produced          9.5                    13
Pressures produced  36                     74
Pressure rate              46%                 18.2%
Hurry rate                    25%                  7.9%

In nearly a fifth of the pass-rush snaps, Jamal Adams has amassed two-thirds Watt’s sack count. Adams also has about half the pressures and 2-3 times the pressures and hurry rate. Again, he has rushed the passer 328 fewer times than Watt.

Sure, you can argue that the larger a sample size, the closer the numbers will get to reality. The thing is, I have been watching these stats all season for Adams. The pressure and hurry rates have actually increased as the season has progressed. Meaning, he is learning and improving, not regressing back to expectation.

You can also argue that Adams is a blitzer, so he naturally gets a better shot at the quarterback. This is true. However, when you look at the top 3 pass-rushing DB’s behind Adams, you will notice that doesn’t tell the full tale. The top 3 blitzing defensive backs behind Adams are Harrison Smith, Logan Ryan, and Keanu Neal.

Player                        Adams          Harrison       Ryan         Neal
Pass rush snaps          79                  33                 20            24
Sacks                              9.5                  0.5                  1              1
Pressures                      36                  12                    7              8
Pressure %                     46%                36%              35%         33%
Hurry %                           25%                27%              30%         17%
Sack %                             12%                  2%                  5%           4%

Jamal Adams is the only player with over one sack. All the defensive backs are pressuring on at least 30% of the reps. However, Jamal Adams is the only one who has the fight, speed, and instinct to finish the job and do so consistently. At the current rate, it would take Harrison 627 reps, Ryan 190 and Neal 228 to get to the same sack count as Adams (9.5).