After Enjoying First Taste of NFL Action, Myles Adams Shooting For Roster Spot With Seahawks
RENTON, WA - For any undrafted free agent signee aiming to make it in the NFL, the road to playing in a regular season game can be a long, arduous path. The majority of those who don't hear their name called on draft weekend never suit up beyond August exhibition games, often reaching their ceiling as practice squad signees.
But for those who persevere through the struggle and keep putting their best foot forward, opportunity can knock at any time. Just ask third-year defensive tackle Myles Adams, who was ready to answer the door and show he belonged when the Seahawks needed him most last December.
After spending the better part of two seasons on multiple practice squads, Adams would finally get the chance to show what he could do in an NFL regular season game. Dealing with a virus outbreak, Seattle had seven players on the COVID-19/reserve list heading into a Week 15 road matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, including defensive linemen Bryan Mone and Kerry Hyder, opening the door for him to be elevated off the practice squad.
Thrust into duty two consecutive weeks with Mone and Hyder sidelined, Adams capitalized on his first NFL opportunity. Though the Seahawks fell in back-to-back losses to the Rams and Bears and thus were eliminated from playoff contention, the former Rice standout produced a quality stat line with five tackles and a quarterback hit on 33 defensive snaps.
"It was really surreal. I really give a lot of that to Coach [Clint] Hurtt. I think he was the one that advocated for me to get activated in those two games," Adams said. "First game in division against the Rams, got my first taste of NFL action. It was a good deal. Got to play against some good people. Brandon Allen, Pro Bowl alternate center. Got to play against [quarterback] Nick Foles, the week after against the Bears, snow game. That was really my first snow game. So it was different."
Long before the Arlington, Texas native strapped up to play against Allen in southern California and Foles in the rare snow at Lumen Field, undrafted rookies such as Adams faced near-insurmountable odds trying to make an NFL roster. Drawing quite the unlucky straw two years ago, they their NFL journey squarely behind the eight ball amid unprecedented circumstances thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a stellar collegiate career, Adams initially signed with the Panthers, but like the rest of his rookie peers, he didn't benefit from anything close to a typical offseason. Due to nation-wide stay at home mandates, the league cancelled organized team activities and minicamps in the spring, forcing him and many others to learn a new defense and conduct workouts virtually instead of on the practice field or in person at the team facility.
Further stacking the cards against undrafted players such as Adams, the league cancelled their preseason slate, avoiding unnecessary travel before the start of the regular season to prevent the virus from spreading. This eliminated a premium showcase for undrafted rookies to impress coaches and potentially attract the attention of other teams.
Without a legitimate chance to face other NFL competition, Carolina released Adams at the end of training camp and after a brief stint on the practice squad, he already found himself at a career crossroads in mid-September. Several months went by without another offer until Seattle came calling in December, signing him to the practice squad with a few weeks left to play in the regular season.
While he didn't receive a call up to the gameday roster in the final month, Adams took to Hurtt's coaching and did enough in his brief time with the Seahawks to warrant a reserve/future deal. Taking advantage of a more traditional, albeit it not quite normal offseason, he performed well in training camp and the preseason, recording five tackles and a partial sack in three games.
That showing wasn't quite enough for Adams to earn a roster spot in a crowded defensive line room, but he was quickly re-signed to Seattle's practice squad for further development, setting the stage for him to make his NFL debut three months later.
Reflecting on how he played in his first extensive NFL action, Adams gave himself an average C grade for his first game against the Rams, indicating the performance didn't quite meet his own personal expectations. But he felt he took a significant step forward against the Bears, as knowing he would play for the entire game week aided his preparation, helped build his confidence, and thus allowed him to "play quicker, play faster" on the field.
One day after the game, coach Pete Carroll echoed the same sentiments, saying of Adams, "You could see him play faster, he took some shots at some plays, he disengaged some blocks with confidence, and he just looked better. He made a big jump from game one to game two."
After gaining invaluable experience in a trial by fire and proving to himself he could play in the league, Adams signed another future/reserve contract with Seattle in January eager to continue building momentum. Wasting no time getting back to work following the conclusion of the season, he hit the weight room hard, adding extra muscle to his 290-pound frame to better fortify his body for the rigors of playing in the trenches.
Off the field, Adams partnered with BamFam, a nonprofit organization based out of Texas, to host a free youth football camp earlier this month. Owing much of his own success to the "superb" teaching of Hurtt, he tried to take what he has learned from the respected coach and pay it forward passing his knowledge onto others, including putting youngsters through hand technique drill work, along with helping provide free meals for the campers.
"I try to teach them a lot of the movements, specialize the movements, and just to give them something to take home, get better with their craft, you know, and really just being back into the youth. It was a good offseason, so I want to share what I learned with them," Adams smiled.
Reaping the rewards of participating in a full offseason program featuring OTAs and minicamps for the first time in his career in more ways than one, Adams quickly grasped new terminology implemented by Hurtt, who received a promotion to defensive coordinator in February. With many of the concepts being the same despite transitioning towards a 3-4 defense with more odd fronts, he was able to shift his central focus towards sharpening his hand technique and footwork this spring, using extensive film work as a guide to areas of improvement.
Most notably, with Adams characterizing himself as more of a penetrating style defensive tackle, he's continued to work on the art of mirror stepping, a critical technique often used playing defensive tackle in an odd front that was foreign to him when he first arrived in the Pacific Northwest.
"Three man fronts, you get to be more balanced, read the play action, better for run fits, stuff like that," Adams explained. "But when you're in an even front, you kind of pin your ears back, like more traditional four down front, you have your 3-techniques so you can get [to the] over front with the 3 and the 1, but the difference is balanced versus penetrating. We get to do a lot of both. That's what I liked about Coach Hurtt's defense."
Becoming more comfortable with mirror stepping as he has gained experience practicing every day, Adams saw action as a head-up nose tackle last week in training camp along with 3-tech defensive tackle, putting his expanded positional flexibility on display. Offering more versatility than he did coming out of Rice, the ability to line up across the line should pay dividends as he vies for a roster spot this month and Hurtt has taken notice, commending him for playing beyond his measurables and developing into a scheme-diverse asset.
“With Myles, you have to play to your style. The first thing people think of when you’re dealing with some 3-4 concepts is big guys, long, big, burly, but sometimes you get guys who are really good football players that might not meet the measurable standpoint that you’re looking for, and he kind of fits that. Poona [Ford] fits that. But they’re very smart, cerebral guys, they understand blocking schemes, so they can play a down ahead... He’s done really well, and it’d be good to see this preseason because he had a great spring, and a nice start again so far.”
Considering the talent and depth returning for the Seahawks across the defensive line, accomplishing that goal won't necessarily be an easy one for Adams. Scrapping for remaining snaps behind proven veterans in Ford, Al Woods, Shelby Harris, Quinton Jefferson, and Bryan Mone, he will likely have to outperform former first-round pick L.J. Collier and second-year defender Jarrod Hewitt to make the team out of camp and the preseason.
But after exhibiting the skills to play at a high level on Sundays last season and enjoying the best offseason of his young career on all fronts, Adams' confidence in himself has never been higher. Light years ahead physically and mentally from where he was two short years ago, he trusts in his ability to consistently put quality reps on film and keep "stacking good days," giving himself the best chance to make the third time the charm in Seattle.
