Sam Adams Jr. committed to Washington this morning. Why is this so impactful? The obvious answer to that question is that he’s a local 4-star prospect and he’s a serious, elite baller with 43 offers.
But let’s delve a little deeper into this…the “homegrown” tailbacks for Washington Football have had the biggest impacts on Husky Football more often than not.
Going back to the Don James era, the legendary Husky coach said (paraphrased) that Joe Steele was the biggest impact player Washington had signed in the early years of his tenure.
Then let’s not forget Rick Fenney who came from Snohomish.
Fast forward to Spokane’s contribution of Bishop Sankey who wreaked all sorts of havoc for the Huskies during the more recent era of Husky Football.
Myles Gaskin shattered the record books during his four-year career at Washington, courtesy of O’Dea High School.
And now there’s Salvon Ahmed, another local player who is on the cusp of having a huge season at Washington this year.
Sam Adams Jr.? Who would we compare him to in the all-time local Husky tailback roster?
At 6-2 and a little over 2 bills? Adams could be compared to the great Franklin High School star, Corey Dillon. He was a juco, however, so he had those two years of man-weight already added before he took the field at Washington.
Corey Dillon was the best running back Washington has ever had — at least in this writer’s opinion. His time at Washington was too short, but he wound up playing in the NFL for 10 years.
Dillon had good speed, good hands, excellent inside skills, but what made him so special was his physicality between the tackles. Watching Sam Adams in the 220 range with better speed than Dillon, better hands than Dillon, and just as good inside as Dillon, it’s obvious that Adams can be that guy — when we say Jimmy’s and Joe’s, Adams is a Jimmy.
He is so versatile and his skillset so solid, but his true upside is that he’s a big time thumping running back with speed who can flat out wear guys out in the third and fourth quarter.
The Huskies landed Jay’Veon Sunday also in this class, and he and Adams are like thunder and lightening; the home-run hitter and the punisher.
Adams should have been a five-star prospect, without question. 43 offers at running back; Alabama, Ohio State, Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC, Penn State, Florida, Oregon…that’s an elite list. And it isn’t a complete list either. There’s a ton more offers that Adams received.
With his dad, Adams Sr., or “Big Poppa the Run Stoppa” and a former dominant D-Tackle in the league, Adams has all the intangibles to be a huge impact player for Washington. His size and frame is perfect for the next level. And there’s so much football in his blood from the entire Adams Family that now, Sam is ready to take his place and make his name household.
He’s the whole package.
Right now there are three players in the state of Washington who could be listed as the best in the state; Sav’ell Smalls, Gee Scott Jr., and Sam Adams Jr.. Any one of these guys could be number-one in Washington this year.
My old mentor Rick Kimbrel told me, “Never judge a player in high school, you always judge them by what they did in their career in college and in the pros”.
In other words, don’t judge them until you’ve seen their body of work during their career.
The ceiling for Adams Jr. is high, and if he follows in the footsteps of others who came before him — the impact he can make at Washington will be something Husky fans remember for decades to come.
