In case you missed it, the Syracuse football team added some serious star power to their squad with the addition of Abdul Adams. ITLH breaks it down.
Abdul Adams, a former Oklahoma running back, has enrolled into Syracuse University and is currently taking classes. However, Adams will not be eligible to play at Syracuse until the 2019 season. Adams sitting out is much like the news of another former 4-star recruit that transferred in to Syracuse, Trishton Jackson.
Coming out of high school Adams was rated 4-stars by 247sports.com. The Durham, North Carolina native initially chose Oklahoma over the likes of Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, among other blue bloods.
While at OU, Adams played in 14 games and started in 4 of them.
This past season, Adams started in four games and averaged 77 yards per game. His 59 carries this season went for a total of 542 yards, that equates to 9.2 yards per carry on the season, an astonishing number.
Although Oklahoma had a stable of talent at running back this season in Rodney Anderson and Tre Sermon. His numbers are great and he only had one fumble.
Adams will have two years of eligibility starting in 2019. He should be a mainstay in the Syracuse backfield for his two years on the hill.
Let’s look at the tape:
This guy brings the “make-you-miss” element that Syracuse has been lacking at the running back position for the last two seasons.
At the :31 mark on the tape, Adams shows off his juke moves on a kickoff return. He sets up the blockers nicely, probing one side of the field. However, the opponent does a nice job of containing the return, but Adams is just too skilled. He spots the proper hole that he can jump-cut to and once he hits it he flies through it. Dino Babers hasn’t had a running back rush for over 600 yards in either of his first two seasons at Syracuse. I would suspect that Adams will be able to do so.
The next play that stands out to me occurs at the 1:06 mark on the highlight tape, keep in mind these are junior year of high school highlights. Adams takes the hand off and observes where the hole is, he notices that there is nobody home to set the edge and he gets past the edge and to the sideline incredibly quick. Once again, Syracuse has been lacking a running back with the speed and agility to get to the edge, Adams should give Syracuse that.
Wow…
In all of the highlight films that I have reviewed, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a running back commit have the jump cutting ability that Adams has. At the 3:06 mark on the highlight tape, just observe the two jump cuts that Adams makes. This is the sign of an elite athlete and one that can shine in the Dino Babers offense. If he is in the open field, no one is catching him. When you let Adams into the second level he will make all the corners and safeties miss.
Next: Syracuse Football: SU adds superstar running back Abdul Adams
If there was ever one highlight to watch all the way through, it is this guy’s. But if you don’t, I get it, he is just way better than everyone else on the field, and I cannot wait to see this guy in Orange. As Dino Babers says, “You must have belief without evidence,” keep him around and I think you will see the evidence.