How Does Jamal Adams Compare with Seahawks Legend Kam Chancellor?

When thinking of the iconic "Legion Of Boom," Kam Chancellor's iconic bodyslams come to mind — Bam Bam was known for putting the boom in one of the NFL's most dominant secondaries.

Unfortunately, the aggressive play style that made this strong safety so daunting is also the reason he retired all too soon. Safeties can often stretch their careers well into their 30s, but Chancellor had to hang up his cleats after a serious neck injury in 2017.

While Chancellor has been out of the league for two years, his successor may have finally landed in Seattle this past weekend in the form of former Jets strong safety Jamal Adams.

After three years in the NFL, the 24-year old safety has already made the Pro Bowl twice, making Second and First-Team All-Pro squads in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Though he's only played three seasons, Adams has made a name for himself throughout the league for his hard-hitting style of play, much like Chancellor did throughout his eight-year career. Although his bone-jarring tackles are difficult to imitate, both Chancellor and Adams have been known for their tight coverage and physical tackles.

In fact, the word "enforcer" has even been associated with both safeties, and it's an apt word to describe what these players have done for their defenses. Chancellor was known as "a quiet enforcer" on the Seahawks, and Adams' Madden 20 avatar deployed the Enforcer superability that essentially forced fumbles in the game. Virtual or real, Chancellor and Adams enforce overwhelming defensive might, preventing players from passing through them.

While it's no stretch to compare the two great safeties (or argue that Adams is a hybrid of Earl Thomas and Chancellor), the similarities can actually be quantified. Having Adams on the field is almost like getting Chancellor back on the field.

This is a heat map of Kam Chancellor's position during plays. He usually played closer to the line as a box safety, although his position is scattered around the backfield. The red area is where he spent the most time, surveying the field and slamming into unlucky tight ends and receivers. Occasionally, he dropped back into coverage as a deep safety in single-high and two-high looks, but his strong suit was definitely played closer to the line.

Now here is a map of the same information, but this is for Jamal Adams. It's quite clear that the two safeties occupy the same space in conversations of Seattle secondary greats as well as on the field itself, but Adams' map is noticeably different. Not only does Adams hover near the line, but he is able to quickly scale back for tackles and defended passes. The nimble Adams gives off the same heat as Kam did - and perhaps even more.

If we look back at the safeties' combine metrics, the results clarify the differences between the defensive backs, as well as how each used their skill sets to their advantage.

Chancellor's 2010 combine bench press, arm length, weight, and height were extraordinarily high at the 88th percentile or above, painting a portrait of a towering, powerful strong safety that could easily swat passes away and devour ball carriers as a tackler in space or at the line of scrimmage.

The most outstanding metric from Adams' 2017 combine records is his arm length hitting the 94th percentile - but his 3-cone drill was in the 60th percentile and his 20-yard shuttle was in the 73rd percentile. If 60th and 70th percentiles don't sound all that impressive, it simply means that metrics-wise, Adams has a more well-rounded skill set, especially when it comes to agility. If a strong safety can hit hard and change direction quickly, he poses a formidable threat to anyone who dares to stand on the other side of the line.

Whether Chancellor scaled back for his interceptions or Adams rocketed into the backfield to force a fumble, these two safeties have effectively stayed in their lane and enforced chaos in their own unique ways. Seattle was lucky to have Chancellor on its side for nearly a decade, and with Adams signed on for at least another two seasons playing alongside Quandre Diggs, a fiery future blazes ahead for the Seahawks secondary.