2010 Spartan Nation Football Profile: CB Johnny Adams #5

 Expectation: starting CB  Height:  5’11”  Weight: 170#  2010 Eligibility: red shirt sophomore  EXP: 1 letter  Status:Â

 

With a nose for the ball and a penchant for big plays Adams could have a breakout campaign in 2010. Photo courtesy of MSU SID

Expectation:Â starting CB

 

Height:  5’11”

 

Weight:Â 170#

 

2010 Eligibility:Â red shirt sophomore

 

EXP:Â 1 letter

 

Status:Â starting CB

 

Strengths: The first time I watched Adams play at MSU was a practice. This small package of dynamite makes plays. Sometimes you wonder how, but he makes them. He reminds some of Travis Key, but I simply see him as his own man.

 

He would have greatly helped MSU in 2009, but he red shirted and will contribute this season. Let me show you an example of his ability to make plays. In the spring game with less than a minute to go in the second quarter they sent him on a blitz. He made an amazing spin move and sacked the QB (Boisture), and I think the man that was supposed to block him is still stuck in the turf.

 

He makes plays. He is around the ball. He has the intangibles that can make a player special or terrible. He has great instincts, he know has to channel them.

 

Weakness: How many times have you heard the old adage that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength? Well, it works with Adams also. His strength of making plays can hurt him. What if he anticipates wrongly or more importantly has more faith in his playmaking ability than what he should be reading? Here is an example.

 

In the spring game on a first and ten for the MSU offense and with 1:22 on the clock he picks up a fumble. No surprise the young man is a playmaker. He then ran 17 yards backwards trying to make a play. The Spartans lost 17 yards of field position. Was he trying to make a great play bigger? Yes. Is that bad? Not when it is there. He isn’t in high school anymore. He isn’t going to be able to outrun everyone. He would have been better to fall on the ball, or after he picked it up going down then costing his team 17 yards.

 

Again, you have to love his ability to make plays, he just has to be cognizant of when to use it. I heard it best described this way. He has a corvette motor; he just has to learn that you can’t open it up in a school zone. With maturity, he will learn when to turn things on and when not to. 

 

Final Analysis: The thing I love about Adams is that he at least makes plays. The Spartans need that exciting player whose speed and playmaking ability can change a game. Adams has it, but people need to remember his youth and recognize there is a high risk and high reward quotient with a young man that plays like Adams.

 

I look forward to watching him in 2010 and I can assure you of this. You can’t say this about all players, but at the end of the year this player will be markedly better than the one that plays against WMU.

 

Next up: K Dan Conroy