After the annual NFL Draft, players and teams scramble to find good matches as the undrafted-free-agency frenzy unfolds. One player who found his way to Western New York was Trey Adams, who reportedly signed with the Buffalo Bills. The former Washington Huskies offensive tackle will face an uphill battle made even tougher by what’s expected to be a drastically reduced offseason.
Please note, there’s always a reason players fell out of the draft and honest analysis should explore why. The spirit of showing “bad reps” is to help discuss what a player may need to work on rather than belittle.
Play 1
Before I start talking negatives I’d like to say there’s plenty of good blocks on tape for Trey Adams and this starts off as a good representative of all those plays. When properly set it looked very difficult to move through Adams. Now the bad news.
No matter how he was set, there did not appear to be a tremendous amount of difficulty disengaging with Trey Adams. When the defender decides to move to his left he does so nearly unimpeded and nearly makes it back to the play in time to record a tackle.
Play 2
Trey Adams gets really low, which is especially noteworthy at 6’8”. He follows it up with a good extension of the left arm that twists his man and drives him back. But like we see above, when the player is ready to move on he does so pretty easily. Coming back to his height, at some point linemen can be hurt by being tall. In a contest where the “low man wins” it becomes increasingly harder to be the low man the taller you get.
Play 3
This was all-too-common as well. Whether he was pulling or trying to get to the second level on run plays, Trey Adams has a lot of difficulty hitting his target. There wasn’t a single reason for this either. Similar misses were the result of lack of speed, bad angles, overly aggressive burst, and simply missed timing. Unfortunately that does suggest it could be hard to correct.
Play 4
One thing that jumped out in a more positive light was Trey Adams’s tendency to pivot his entire body when turning into a block. Keeping your feet squared and in position for leverage goes against the natural inclination to turn at the hips. On this exact play Adams’s feet are a little weird as they’re both moving at nearly identical times. This gives the appearance of small bunny hops rather than sliding steps we’re accustomed to seeing. To reiterate, the odd movement wasn’t a trend and even with it considered, his lower body is well established.
Play 5
This is a good shot at the potential of Trey Adams as he combines a good position with very effective leverage from his hands. Driving your opponent off screen is a pretty big deal. It wasn’t as often as I’d like, but when everything came together Adams was definitely able to get the job done.
Summary
There are definitely a few reasons to call out why Trey Adams went undrafted. Move blocking and finishing blocks jumped out as two of the biggest reasons. Some stance imperfections are a poor mix with the height of Adams who has to work even harder to get low enough for leverage. A less-than-stellar injury history has got to be a significant factor in Adams’s flaws as well.
That doesn’t mean the Buffalo Bills added him out of the kindness of their heart. There are definitely flashes of talent that are worth a gamble, especially such an inexpensive gamble. Buffalo could also be hoping that Adams will move past his injury history and take a massive step forward.