Getty The Seahawks believe Jamal Adams could be the best safety they have had under Pete Carroll.
It has become clear that the Seattle Seahawks value Jamal Adams more than most, if not all, NFL teams. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sees some similarities between Adams and Hall-of-Fame safety Troy Polamalu who he has familiarity with from their days together at USC.
“There’s some real similarities,” Carroll said, per ESPN. “Forget the stature part of it, the way they look. It’s the nature that they play with is similar. They play with such amazing confidence that when they see things, they go get things.”
Polamalu spent 12 seasons with the Steelers and was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 2020. The Steelers legend notched a career-high seven interceptions in two seasons and had 32 total along with 783 tackles in Pittsburgh. Polamalu is an eight-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion. If this is what the Seahawks see in Adams, it makes sense why the franchise was willing to give up two first-round picks to land a safety still looking for a new contract.
Seattle Loves the ‘Juice’ Adams Brings to the Field
In his few media appearances since the trade, Carroll cannot contain his excitement over the team’s acquisition of Adams. Carroll noted Adams’ passion “exploded out of him at times” and is a big reason why the trade was so appealing for the Seahawks.
“Watch him play, watch the juice that he brings, watch the energy that he feels playing this game that he loves, and how that affects the people around him,” Carroll noted, via Seahawks.com. “I know that that’s going to carry over to the locker room, I just don’t know that for a fact yet, I’ve just been able to watch him on the field, and all of the fire and the juice that comes out of, that it is what I’ve loved about this game since I was a little kid. And so to see that we’re able to bring that to our club—we want to be as juiced and jacked up to play this game as anybody who’s ever been in the history of the game, well this is a guy that understands that, that’s where he wants to live, so he’s going to affect us in a really positive way.”
The Seahawks Reportedly View Adams as a Better Player Than Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor
Behind the scenes, ESPN’s Brady Henderson reported that the Seahawks view Adams as a better player than Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Adams’ versatility is what the Seahawks believe give him an edge over some of the team’s past players.
“The feeling inside the Virginia Mason Athletic Center is that Adams is a better player than Chancellor and Thomas, which is saying something given Thomas’ Hall of Fame trajectory,” Henderson explained. “With two career interceptions, he’s not a ballhawk like Thomas, nor is he as big of a thumper as Chancellor (few are), but the Seahawks see Adams as more athletic and better in coverage than Chancellor while being the most versatile of the three given his ability to match up on speedy tight ends and get after the quarterback as a blitzer.”
Adams can be more than a box safety as the Seahawks can utilize him as a chess piece all over the field. It will be worth watching how the Seahawks use Adams when the season starts in September.
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