Adams Figured Out the Formula for UW Running-Back Playing Time

Three distinct things are required to play that position for the Huskies.

No position for a University of Washington football team under new management has provided more intrigue or gone through more curious shuffling than running back.

Virginia transfer Wayne Taulapapa, reliable but hardly flashy, has been the Husky starter for all seven games and he leads the team in rushing with 424 yards on 80 carries.

Cam Davis tops the Pac-12 in scoring with 9 touchdowns in six games as the No. 2 and sometimes No. 3 tailback.

Richard Newton battled back from a knee injury to play again, only to get reinjured.

Nebraska transfer Will Nixon was a strictly a wide receiver for the Cornhuskers, but he's run the ball 17 times and scored twice for the UW before getting banged up.

Jay'Veon Sunday, one of five Texas backs on the Husky roster at one time, played sparingly last year but he hasn't got on the field this season.

Aaron Dumas led New Mexico in rushing a year ago as a freshman and was the No. 1 back throughout UW spring football, but he's fallen deep on the depth chart and hasn't played.

After spring ball, oft-injured Texas backs Caleb Berry and Emeka Megwa either left voluntarily or were asked to give up their scholarships and have resurfaced at Incarnate Word and Oklahoma, respectively.

Oh yes, then there's Sam Adams II. He's a much-heralded Seattle-area player who was injured for two seasons and is just now beginning to get a chance to play a significant role for the Huskies.

If any of these players try to tell you that Kalen DeBoer's new coaching staff plays favorites in determining the order of things, try not to laugh out loud.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb explicitly explained what's required to play Husky running back when he described the progress made by Adams, who scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass against Arizona and rushed six times for 20 yards.

"Sam is the type of back we're looking for at the U-Dub — he's a true three-phase guy," Grubb said Monday. "He's good in protection, he obviously had the nice catch out of the backfield and he's becoming a stronger runner in between the tackles."

Every one of these backs probably runs sufficiently well. However, it's the receiving and blocking part that holds players back in this rearranged Husky hierarchy. 

For instance, Dumas didn't catch a pass while rushing for 658 yards, 143 of it coming against Fresno State, DeBoer and Grubb, for his Mountain West team in 2021.  

Similarly, the hard-running Sunday didn't show himself to be a particularly good blocker in the past and won't play again until he is.

So they sit and sit, and contemplate expanding their skill set or possibly going elsewhere. 

Sam Adams II heads for the end zone with a 4-yard touchdown pass against Arizona / Skylar Lin Visuals

The 6-foot-2, 198-pound Adams, however, is making his move as a Husky running back, having appeared in three Pac-12 games now and gradually increasing his snaps.

He originally arrived in Montlake after being recruited by Chris Petersen yet signed with Jimmy Lake's newly installed coaching staff. He had 41 scholarship offers coming from the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and USC.

Adams was so good he could have gone anywhere and played as a tailback or a defensive back.

Lake said he much preferred him as a runner because he liked "a big back who could run downhill."

DeBoer's staff, of course, knew all about Adams coming in, with running-backs coach Lee Marks trying to recruit him while he was at Boise State.

While Adams seemed to languish at times with Lake's crew, even when healthy, the current staff has done everything it could to get him motivated to become a bigger part of the UW program.

Curiously, we won't hear about any of this from Adams. He's turned down all media interview requests so far, without giving a reason.

Sam Adams II celebrates his first career Husky touchdown / Skylar Lin Visuals

We'll leave it to Grubb then to break down Adams' progress.

"He's been really good at preparation," the offensive coordinator said. "He had a couple games that he didn't get to play. He stayed on the work and continued to improve even though he wasn't getting those reps."

Adams was ready to play when summoned in the last couple of weeks by Grubb, especially at Arizona State, where the Huskies were forced to use five different backs. His commitment was lauded.

"When he had the opportunity to step up and have a role, it wasn't a surprise for him," Grubb said. "It wasn't like, 'Ah, I'm kind of behind with the offense.' He knew exactly what was going on. The preparation piece for Sam is probably as big as anything."

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