Seahawks' Myles Adams Primed For Expanded Role?

RENTON, Wash. - Over the years, the Seattle Seahawks have stood out as a prime landing spot for undrafted free agents, and Myles Adams stands out as proof players can find success with the franchise even after beginning their NFL careers elsewhere.

Breaking into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Rice, Adams originally signed with the Panthers before the 2020 season, but didn't make the team and was released just three weeks after being released from the practice squad. Without a team for several months, he eventually joined the Seahawks practice squad in early December, signing a future/reserve deal in January.

Since then, few players have improved their stock in the Pacific Northwest more than Adams, who has made the most of every opportunity to play and make an impact. 

With several veterans sidelined by injuries and COVID, Adams received a call up from the practice squad and made his regular season debut against the Rams in a rare Tuesday game, recording two tackles and a pressure in a hard-fought defeat at SoFi Stadium. The next week, he registered three tackles and a pressure in a loss to the Bears, standing out as a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing defensive performance at home, drawing praise from coach Pete Carroll.

Though he didn't suit up again in 2021 and reverted back to the practice squad, Adams' stellar play continued into training camp and the preseason last August, and after failing to make the initial roster one year earlier, he earned a spot on the 53. As the season progressed, with Al Woods and Bryan Mone battling injuries, he gradually saw an uptick in snaps for a playoff contender, including seeing action as a nose tackle filling in for injured veterans Al Woods and Bryan Mone late in the year.

Finishing with a career-high in tackles, quarterback pressures, and run stops while logging 190 defensive snaps, Adams was pleased with his development last season. But after re-signing as an exclusive rights free agent and spending his offseason breaking down film to evaluate his game, he knows he still has a long ways to go to become the player he wants to be.

"I think my first step is definitely my best attribute. I think my knowledge of the game slowed down a lot this year," Adams said prior to Sunday's training camp practice. "I saw it last season as well learning the key reads and everything like that. I think I need to make sure I get better consistency, and technique, and just overall communication with the rest of the defense."

As one of the few remaining holdovers on a defensive line that underwent a full-scale makeover this offseason, Adams may have his best chance yet to carve out an extensive rotational role for the Seahawks entering his fourth season with the team. 

In the aftermath of a disappointing season where Seattle finished 30th in the NFL in rushing defense, gone are Woods, Poona Ford, Shelby Harris, and Quinton Jefferson, with every player except the unsigned Harris now residing in the AFC East. Meanwhile, with Mone still recovering from a torn ACL, big ticket free agent Dre'Mont Jones, reliable veteran Jarran Reed, and rookies Cameron Young and Mike Morris have arrived as replacements with the team hoping to be more dynamic up front.

Despite finishing near the top of league in rushing defense in the previous two seasons, even with an experienced group headlined by Ford, Harris, and Woods, the unit struggled to adapt to a new defensive scheme. From Adams' perspective, inconsistent execution had far more to do with these persistent issues than scheme or play calling from first-year defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, citing the defense's up and down results throughout the year as evidence they were capable of playing well.

"When we were on, we were on and when we were off, we were definitely off, and you can see that from the film and from the statistics," Adams said. "I would say it was more so discipline in our run gaps, because it takes all 11 [players]. And we got to make sure we have consistency in execution. When we execute at a high level, it's hard to beat us. ... If we do what we're supposed to do, we'll stop the run."

Interestingly, when Adams played more snaps, especially late in the season, the Seahawks defended the run at a much higher level. In six games where he logged at least 20 snaps, they surrendered 124 rushing yards per game, which would have ranked 18th out of 32 teams. In three of those six games, they gave up fewer than 80 total rushing yards, turning in their three best yardage totals on the season with him filling a more extensive role.

While not all of that falls onto Adams' shoulders obviously, it's a large enough sample size to warrant a closer look. Even though he weighs just 300 pounds and isn't built like a traditional nose tackle, he held up well at the position in limited action, playing with sound technique and excellent leverage at the point of attack, helping plug up run lanes and limit the Chiefs and Jets to under four yards per carry.

With Adams and Reed both listed as nose tackles on the team's official website and Carroll name-dropping them as candidates to play the position after the departure of Woods, Seattle appears to be moving a different direction in regard to how it plans to deploy players at the position. Both players weigh under 310 pounds, but they play bigger than their size and possess quality athletic traits, which Adams said likely will mean a more aggressive approach with the goal of penetrating gaps and creating disruption rather than eating up blocks.

What will that look like on the field? Though responsibilities will change based on scheme, Adams expects the Seahawks to use more power stepping than mirror stepping with him and Reed to "utilize our attributes to our advantage."

"The nose tackle position is more so going to be technique and beating the man in front of you with quickness and knowledge of the game," Adams said. "That's really a strong suit being quicker than the man in front of me. O-linemen get paid to be big, I get paid to be fast."

Though he's only 25 years old with just 233 defensive snaps to his name, with Reed being an exception with a previous five-year stint with the organization before spending the past two years with the Chiefs and Packers, Adams stands out as the longest-tenured interior defensive lineman on the Seahawks' roster.

Now an established veteran who has cut his teeth in the trenches playing multiple positions, Adams has taken what he learned from Reed and others over the past few years and he's passing those lessons to newcomers such as Young and Morris. Going from untested practice squad player to a key piece of the defensive line puzzle and a veteran leader in his position group, he's enjoying every moment and ready to take another big step forward in 2023.

"Some guys come and ask me about the playbook, that's one of my strong suits. They say I'm smart, I went to Rice University and all that, so the playbook is really one of my strong suits they come and cling to me with that and little techniques tips and tricks here and there because I learned from J. Reed and the guys that were in our room last year, two years prior, so having them back in something that's really been good for us."