Does Jamal Adams have anything left in the tank?

Film breakdown on the newly signed safety who will play inside linebacker

As the veterans reported to training camp, the Las Vegas Raiders surprisingly signed five free agents to the roster. The biggest name of the bunch is former Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams.

Adams had a couple of good years playing for head coach Pete Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks. Adams started working at inside linebacker on day two of training camp and Carroll said he will play there as he tries to make the team.

However, the three-time All-Pro has battled injuries over the last several seasons and only recorded 40 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, with the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions in 2024.

So, it’s fair to question what the 29-year-old who turns 30 in mid-October has left in the tank? Let’s flip on last year’s tape and find out.

Something Adams did well during his limited time with the Titans last season was provide run support from a deep safety position. Part of it is tied to his instincts, and he’s also willing to come downhill and get involved in run fits to help prevent first downs.

In the first clip above, the Green Bay Packers try to get tricky by motioning the tight end, who originally lines up as an outside wide receiver, to give the defense some pre-snap eye candy. Then, Green Bay fakes a counter run to the running back to keep the defense in the middle of the field and open up the perimeter for the wide receiver on the end around.

Granted, Tennessee’s other safety isn’t fooled and makes a nice play, but Adams also does a great job of staying home and crashing downhill to help his teammate and give the ball carrier a nice pop, limiting the yards after contact.

The second clip is a traditional zone run where the Packers are trying to get to the perimeter. The Titans’ cornerback defeats the receiver’s block but misses the tackle while the linebacker gets pinned inside, creating an outside rushing lane. Luckily, Adams rolls down from a two-high safety alignment and makes a solid one-on-one open-field tackle to limit the damage.

Building on the reps above, the safety’s instincts against the run also popped up when lined up in the box. With the Lions this time, he’s facing off against the Packers again, and Green Bay runs a similar play to the second clip in the section above, a zone run with the receiver trying to create an outside rushing lane.

However, once the tight end motions inside, it seems like a light bulb goes off in Adams’ head as he recognizes the play and crashes downhill to defeat the receiver’s block. That allows him to get penetration and set the edge, forcing Josh Jacobs to cut back and into two defenders for a short gain.

Especially if he’s going to be playing linebacker, one area of concern for the veteran is his ability to take on blocks. He’s fine when he can use his instincts to shoot a gap or crash downhill. However, Adams struggled to stack and shed blocks last season, leading to him getting stuck on blocks and being pushed around to create rushing lanes.

The first clip above is especially concerning since he failed to escape a block from a wide receiver.

While we’ve seen previous examples of Adams making good open-field tackles, it’s an area where he struggles with consistency.

According to PFF, he missed two tackles last season, which doesn’t seem like much, but resulted in a 25 percent missed tackle rate given his playing time. Yes, that’s a small sample size to skew the numbers, but he missed 15 in 2023 with the Seahawks at a 24.2 percent rate.

On this rep, Adams’ instincts pop up again. He does a good job of sticking with the tight end while the tight end blocks the defensive end on the play-action fake before releasing into the flat. So, the safety is in a position to make a tackle for a one-yard gain, he just doesn’t execute and the Packers pick up the first down anyway.

Finally, at this stage in his career, Adams isn’t someone who can be trusted in man coverage against slot receivers.

Here, he gets a juke route (a short out-and-in route, essentially) from Dontayvion Wicks, the Packers’ No. 4 receiver last year. Adams is initially in a decent spot to defend the route, but he looks back to the quarterback without having a good feel for Wicks instead of keeping his eyes on his man.

So, when the receiver cuts inside, the defensive back gets beaten and doesn’t have the athleticism to recover, resulting in a first down for the offense.

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What does the eight, going on nine-year veteran have left in the tank? Well, his experience shows up in his football IQ and instincts. However, Adams’ ability to take on blocks, be a consistent tackler and be effective in man coverage are question marks, to say the least as Adams tries to ignite his career at a new position.