New York Jets Jamal Adams says he wants to break a certain NFL record
The gauntlet has been thrown down by Jamal Adams.
On Wednesday, the New York Jets safety took to Twitter (not a surprise, Adams seems to love being vocal on social media) and made a bold prediction that he will break an NFL record. Based off the numbers from last season, there is every reason to believe that Adams can back up his tweet.
The statistic in question is the most sacks in a single season by a safety, set in 2005 by Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson with eight sacks. Last season, Adams came close with 6.5 sacks in 14 games.
Wilson played a full 16-game regular season in 2005, two more games than Adams (who missed Week 14, Week 15). If healthy, the projection for Adams would have been a hair below Wilson’s record.
It will be interesting to see if Adams can recreate the magic of last year, especially now since his ability to rush the quarterback is a well-known commodity.
In 2006, Wilson had five sacks, a very strong number for a safety but still a significant step back from his record-setting season. But then in 2007, he had just 10 sacks over the next five seasons (87 games played, 86 starts). Those aren’t poor numbers but they are a significant decline from Wilson’s record-setting season.
In the second half of the season, following rumors that the Jets had fielded requests about trading their All-Pro safety, Adams stepped up in a major way. He missed two games during the season’s second half due to injury but still had 6.5 sacks in his last seven games played as well as 12 quarterback hits during that stretch.
It will be difficult for Adams to replicate those numbers but certainly not impossible, even with teams now aware that the Jets will regularly blitz him. The Jets secondary is improved, perhaps vastly so, and the presence of better cornerbacks can allow the Jets to be more creative and versatile in how they use Adams. In many ways, he could be allowed to be a true playmaker in the secondary if the cornerbacks do a better job of locking down opposing wide receivers.
This could mean more blitzing and more chances to break Wilson’s number.
