Could Tony Adams win the New York Jets’ starting free safety position?
The second day of New York Jets training camp is in the books. There were plenty of takeaways from Friday’s practice, but the biggest standout may have been second-year safety Tony Adams.
Adams was taking first-team reps at free safety. He made a bunch of impressive plays in coverage while working with the starting defense, displaying range, speed, and ball skills.
Keep an eye on Tony Adams; he has the range the #Jets need at FS. They love this kid.
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) July 21, 2023
Watching Tony Adams closely: Nice job on a team effort in forcing Rodgers to have nowhere to go. Without getting into the routes and concepts and coverages, he phenomenally jumped off his primary read and onto a secondary read to shut it down (driving down on to secondary read).…
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) July 21, 2023
An undrafted free agent out of Illinois in 2022, Adams managed to make the Jets’ opening 53-man roster after an impressive training camp followed by an equally impressive preseason run. Adams played 11 games in his rookie year, mostly appearing on special teams until he was thrust into the Jets’ free safety position late in the season following Lamarcus Joyner’s injury.
Adams performed well in his limited time at free safety. Over 104 defensive snaps from Weeks 17-18, Adams made 12 tackles and did a sound job handling his responsibilities in coverage as he managed to avoid being targeted a single time.
Tony Adams showed intriguing potential at FS in Seattle
Great closing speed, good angles to the ball, and clean/physical finishes in space pic.twitter.com/tet2jP26G3
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) January 4, 2023
I'm a fan of Tony Adams and believe he can rise to the challenge if he ends up as the starting FS.
Showed promise in his tiny sample at FS near the end of 2022, including in coverage. He wasn't targeted once over 50 coverage snaps. Did a great job executing his assignments pic.twitter.com/6h0o1GBchH
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) May 12, 2023
The Jets have a pair of experienced veteran starters at safety in Jordan Whitehead and the recently-signed Adrian Amos. However, both players are at their best when deployed closer to the line of scrimmage. Neither player is an ideal fit to fill the role that was played by Joyner in 2022.
Adams is the Jets’ smoothest fit to take over as the starting free safety, so it would be a huge win for the defense if Adams can build on the promise he showed as a rookie and win the job.
