No Wooden Nickel, Ramonz Adams Gets His Chance

Ramonz Adams Jr. met with the media this week for the first time as a University of Washington football player and was pleasant enough, but he seemed like a man of few words.

Actually, the redshirt freshman nickelback from Baltrop, Texas, probably was just saving them for a more appropriate time.

Such as in the middle of practice, when someone on the other side of the line of scrimmage needs a little reminder that Adams, a noted trash-talker, is out there with ready commentary.

"It's just to get the other guys going, to get the conversation going all the time, to get ready for the game," Adams said smiling.

Ramonz Adams Jr. is shown in warm-ups before the Ohio State game. | Dave Sizer photo

For 10 spring practices, he's been the No. 1 nickel, holding down a job that previously belonged to sophomore Rahshawn Clark, who's recovering from shoulder surgery and in uniform but not permitted to have April contact.

However this job plays out, Adams has put himself in the mix to play a lot in the coming season.

He now weighs 176 pounds, having put on 24 this past offseason, making him a noticeably different player than the scrawny freshman he was in 2025.

"You know, he's taking advantage of his opportunities," defensive-backs coach John Richardson said. "He's gained over 20 pounds since he got here and now he's shown up with his physicality and he's running through contact. He's made some good plays today and he's made some good plays this spring, and I'm glad he's out there."

The Huskies were able to flip Adams from Texas Tech during his recruitment. They liked him for his athleticism, which included finishing second in the triple jump at the Texas high school state track meet with a leap of 46 feet, 9 inches.

Ramonz Adams Jr. stretches out during spring ball. | Skylar Lin Visuals

They were able to find him even though he played for a bad high school defense that gave up 55, 59, 63 and 81 points in its 10 outings. He did his part, finishing with 25 tackles and 8 interceptions for a 5-5 Bastrop team.

He's one of five Texans on this UW team, finding the move west fairly manageable.

"It wasn't really hard," he said. "The only real adjustment was the weather, from sunny to rainy."

Adams is a product of player development, which is becoming more of a lost art in the college game with guys regularly hopping from team to team during each transfer portal cycle now and winging it.

"I'm being more physical, not being scared of contact and things like that," he said.

Adams isn't afraid of slipping a few words into the action either.

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