August 31, 2022

Ferguson: What the Adams Jr. trade could mean for BC

Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca

He’s free.

Well, not in the literal sense. It cost the BC Lions a first round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft, but Vernon Adams Jr. has found a field he’s not just allowed to enter, but welcomed onto with open arms for the rest of 2022.

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Adams’ career has been a series of full circle moments. The most prominent of which now becomes being traded to BC from Montreal for a first round pick after his rights went the opposite way in 2016, for you guessed it, a first round pick.

What happened to Adams in Montreal this year was unfortunate at best and infuriating at worst. After holding a lead on the road in Calgary in Week 1, he was replaced after just four pass attempts in a Week 2 matchup against Toronto.

I was fishing with Brad Sinopoli that day, pulled out my phone to see his limited number of attempts and told the REDBLACKS receiving legend that the Montreal passer must have been hurt.

I was right, just not physically. Sure his elbow was deemed concerning enough to place the beleaguered Als front man on the six game injured list, but that was more about roster management. His sense of self and a healthy ego tamed through adversity over the last six years of professional football ups and downs had Adams questioning why he wasn’t on the field this season.

I wondered the same thing. To those who watch the game closely Adams offers an early 90’s CFL style of brash downfield passing aggression. A trait that originally caused concern in my analysis because it can be an awfully feast or famine way to play the position.

Over time his relentless challenging of defences (a CFL leading 13.9 average depth of target in 2021) made me fall in love with his game in a modern CFL full of swing passes, screens, indefensible cross ball motion throws to the flat and quarterback sneaks.

All of which are smart coaching based on the way the game is defended and structured today, but I often come away from re-watching and tracking CFL games with a solemn sense of longing for someone to entertain me for better or worse.

 

Get ready Lions fans. Yes, you just acquired a quarterback, but with the name comes his playing style and inevitable fireworks.

When Nathan Rourke fell to injury a few weeks back the entire CFL community took a collective gut punch. As we all regained our wind there was hope Michael O’Connor could somehow come close to replicating the ridiculous performance of Rourke and continue carrying the Canadian flag with pride for quarterbacks from Boundary Peak, Yukon to Cape Spear, Newfoundland.

When he took a rib rattling shot from Saskatchewan linebacker Darnell Sankey last Friday that dream ended, for now. Antonio Pipkin came in and was serviceable as the Lions fought their way back into the game, but this Lions roster is far too talented to not take a chance on improving the level of play at the game’s most important position.

What I find so enticing about the Adams-BC match is that stylistically I don’t think there was a better fit available as a trade destination. Returning to the West coast is great, but look closely – beyond just the name recognition of pairing Adams with Dominique Rhymes, Lucky Whitehead and Bryan Burnham – and you’ll see the true potential.

While Rourke was 7th in deep ball efficiency last year (103.3) and has primarily targeted shallow and intermediate targets this year, when No.12 in orange did open it up beyond 20 yards depth the numbers were out of this world. 32 catches on 47 attempts for a CFL best 68.1 per cent completion rate, 1,122 yards (double the next closest quarterback) with 18 touchdowns and just four interceptions. All of that equates to a 158.3 efficiency rating. Just about perfect.

Take Adams’ vertical passing tendencies, place them in a Lions attack that was able to scheme up many explosive pass plays and see what happens? I love it.

Is Adams going to process every read as surgically as Rourke did? Place every ball exactly where Rourke did? Know when to take his medicine and avoid a deep ball mistake as Rourke has? Not likely.

They are different players and Adams is by no means a perfect vertical thrower who will inevitably ring up 60-points the second he touches the BC Place turf, but the match and potential is there.

Enjoy the ride, if nothing else it will be must watch CFL football as Adams makes his long overdue return to the realm of CFL starter.

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