Bumpus: Adams adds ‘Chancellor effect’ to Seahawks, brings ‘swagger’

The Seahawks may not have the Legion of Boom back, but on paper, the team certainly has its best secondary since Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor were making opposing offenses miserable.

What does the Seahawks’ trade for Adams mean for Blair, secondary?

Returning for 2020 are Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Quandre Diggs, who recorded five takeaways in five regular season games for the Seahawks last season. It’s unclear who the second cornerback will be as two-year starer Tre Flowers is back, but the team acquired highly-regarded cornerback Quinton Dunbar from Washington, but his future remains murky as he’s on the NFL’s Commissioner’s Exempt List due to his alleged role in an armed robbery in Florida earlier this offseason.

What seems to be set in stone, however, is that 2019 First-Team All-Pro safety Jamal Adams will be joining Griffin and Diggs in the secondary. Adams, 24, was acquired from the Jets for safety Bradley McDougald, two first-round picks and a third-round selection. Expectations are obviously sky high for the talented young safety, including from former Seahawks wide receiver Michael Bumpus.

“He’ll have the Chancellor effect,” Bumpus told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant earlier this week.

Chancellor was known for laying out huge hits on opposing players and for being the “boom” in the Legion of Boom. Adams could soon assume that role for the Seahawks.

“Will he be Chancellor? I’m not going to put that type of pressure on the kid even though he is a baller, but there’s something about going across the middle of that field when you see that safety rolling down, when you see No. 33 and he’s going to hit you, he’s going to make you think twice,” Bumpus said.

Adams isn’t a normal safety by any means. He lines up at both safety spots, linebacker and edge rusher, where he had 6.5 sacks last year – 2.5 more than any member of the 2019 Seahawks. McDougald, who played the strong safety spot for the Seahawks the last two seasons that Adams will be assuming, would occasionally rush the passer, but Bumpus said it’s Adams does it at a much higher level.

“He’s going  to walk down in the box and if they do send him on blitzes, he’s going to get after that quarterback,” he said. “McDougald had two sacks last year. I went back and looked at his sacks and I looked Adams’ sacks and they’re pretty much kind of the same kind of scenario: they walk up on the edge, blitz, and it just looks different when Jamal Adams does it. He gets there faster and he delivers a blow when he gets to the quarterback.”

Regardless of if Adams is tackling quarterbacks, running backs, receivers or tight ends, Bumpus said Adams will be leaving his mark.

“Once Adams hits you once, you’re going to be thinking about him the rest of the game,” he said. “I don’t think McDougald really struck that fear in anybody.”

One area that Adams isn’t necessarily elite in is creating interceptions. In three NFL seasons, Adams has just two career interceptions. But what he does in other areas helps make up for the defense’s weaknesses.

“You want more interceptions from this secondary so there’s a knock there, but there’s no denying what this dude can do. (Adams had) 10 tackles for loss last year,” Bumpus said. “(Free-agent defensive end) Jadeveon Clowney had 10 tackles for loss (with Seattle) last year, so I guess you’re replacing tackles and some of the sacks there.”

And Adams brings something else to the defense that was on full display during the Legion of Boom Days.

“He brings an aggressiveness and a swagger to this team,” Bumpus said. “He and Quandre Diggs bring a swag to this defense that we haven’t seen in a long time. I’m not going to compare them to that other group (LOB) because we have to put these guys on the field and see what they can do, but I love the attitude that he brings, the intensity that he brings and as a receiver, if you’re going across the middle and you hear some footsteps and you know there’s a big 6-something, 200 pound dude going downhill trying to smack you, you’re going to think twice.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the player below.

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