The entire week leading up to the Jets’ visit to Seattle, I read and heard countless takes congratulating Gang Green for their training camp trade of All-Pro safety Jamal Adams to the Seahawks. Not only, they said, did general manager Joe Douglas receive “a haul” (injured safety Bradley McDougald, first-round picks in 2021 and 2022, and a swap of a 2021 third-rounder for a 2022 fourth-round pick), but he also did the right thing for the good of the franchise.
The Jets must feel so proud.
New York’s noncompetitive 40-3 whupping in Seattle was their team-record 13th consecutive loss – and ninth by more than one score – in this nightmare season. McDougald was an absolute bust even when he was playing, so if you had to look for where the Adams trade offered immediate help…perhaps it is that he is no longer around to make game-deciding plays, like he did against the Cowboys and Giants last season, thereby assuring the Jets would remain winless and the frontrunners for No. 1 pick?
If Douglas’ goal was always to tank the season, then well done. Somehow, though, I highly doubt that was the organization’s thinking at the time.
Adams wasn’t much of a factor on Sunday, even dropping an easy interception to the delight of Jets Twitter. However, he was in on a tackle, one of his five combined, in which running back Frank Gore fumbled in Jets territory early in the second quarter – a play that led to a Seattle field goal – and was given credit for a sack for nudging quarterback Sam Darnold out of bounds after a one-yard loss later in the period.
With that sack, Adams now has 8.5 this season, breaking the NFL record for defensive backs. More impressive is that he accomplished the feat with three more games remaining on the Seahawks’ slate, AND while playing through a sore shoulder after a groin injury cost him four games.
When Adams was creating media mischief at One Jets Drive, after Douglas (in Adams’ mind anyway) reneged on negotiating an extension to his rookie contract, the biggest argument for the organization’s side was that teams shouldn’t pay safeties big money. Said argument contends that the defensive backfield is a “weak link system” where it’s better to have four or five good players, instead of a star surrounded by some soft targets. The chatter was that Adams was seeking a new deal worth around $18-20 million per year, and everyone hollered that sound salary cap management demanded that the Jets should prioritize “premium” positions.
Well, whom are the Jets paying? Considering they’ll be resetting the clock on their QB’s rookie contract when they pick a new one in 2021 and already have a rookie left tackle in Mekhi Becton, the next position groups on the ladder are usually reserved for wide receivers and “edge pass rushers.”
Who was the Jets’ most efficient pass rusher last season, per ProFootballFocus.com? That would be Adams, with 23 pressures, including 6.5 sacks, in 89 rushes.
This season, he is averaging almost a full sack a game. I don’t care what position you play, how is that not premium production? Muhammad Wilkerson is the only Jet to reach double digits in sacks over the last 15 seasons, doing it twice in 2013 and 2015.
Going into Sunday’s contest, Adams wasn’t just leading the Seahawks in this department – his ridiculous 20.9 percent pressure percentage was tops in the NFL among all positions (minimum 75 pass rushes), and tops by a mile. Sunday’s PFF’s stats are not public as of press time, but Adams’ rushes clearly affected a few plays where he was in the Jets’ backfield a split second before Darnold released the football.
Adams’ PFF coverage grades, which were also top-notch last season, have taken a hit on a generally lousy Seattle pass defense, but much of his really bad reps came when he was charged with covering elite receivers like Cooper Kupp or Stefan Diggs. Overall, according to pro-football-reference.com, the Seahawks are middle of the pack in covering tight ends, the strong safety’s typical responsibility in man-to-man schemes. Again, there were many howls on Twitter when Chris Herndon beat Adams for a first down on the third play of Sunday’s game, but that nine-yarder was the only time Darnold even targeted a Jets tight end all day.
I find it curious that some of the same people who didn’t want the Jets to dig deep for Adams are calling on Douglas to re-sign free safety Marcus Maye for whatever money it takes before he hits free agency this offseason. Unquestionably, Maye has better hands, as evidenced by his fantastic interceptions the last two weeks, including Sunday’s tip drill snatch away from Seattle’s beastly receiver D.K. Metcalf. However, look at the overall impact: the Jets, with virtually the same defense as last season minus Adams, have gone from seventh in the league in yards allowed per game to 30th. Adams was always the one Jets defender that opposing QBs had to locate before each snap.
As I said at the time of the trade, it can’t be graded until we know how Douglas uses his draft capital. I get the extra value provided by additional rolls of the dice, but it’s still a crapshoot.
In other words, to make this trade – and this entire season – worth it, Douglas better nail his picks.
For a FAN’s perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve Lichtenstein on Twitter: @SteveLichtenst1
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