Groz: Seahawks’ Jamal Adams is revolutionizing the safety position
Dec 16, 2020, 9:31 AM
Jamal Adams needed just nine games to break the NFL's DB sacks record. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks needed pass-rushing help after the 2020 season. They’ve found it, too – just not at the position where you would think.
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In Sunday’s 40-3 win over the New York Jets, Jamal Adams ran quarterback Sam Darnold out of bounds for a 1-yard loss. It was credited as a sack, giving Adams a team-leading 8.5 and Seattle a total of 36 this season, already eight more than it had as a team in all of 2019.
That sack had some serious historical importance, too. It set a new record for the most sacks in an NFL season ever by a defensive back.
If Adams’ sack of Darnold had occurred in Week 17 or in a year where Adams had been healthy for every game, the record would just be a new entry into the history books. But it happened in Week 14 and Adams has missed four games this year due to injury, so he’s done something no safety or cornerback has ever done in a 16-game season, and he needed only nine games to do it.
It’s not just a record. It’s a revolution of the safety position.
That’s how longtime Seattle sports talk voice Dave “The Groz” Grosby sees it, anyways, and he’s got a pretty strong point.
In this week’s Just a Minute segment, The Groz shares his thoughts on Adams’ historic first season with the Seahawks and compares it to how the legendary Lawrence Taylor revolutionized the linebacker position in the 1980s by doing the same thing Adams is doing now – sacking the quarterback more than anybody who came before him at his position.
“For now he’s something of a unique weapon, but that won’t last for long,” Groz said of Adams. “Soon we will have a defensive back lead the league in sacks in a new variation of defense, and Jamal Adams will likely be looked back on as a man who brought change to the NFL’s defensive philosophy.”
Check out the YouTube video below to hear Groz’s full take on Adams, or click here to listen to his discussion about Adams with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Paul Gallant on Tuesday.
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