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Rice University Athletics
Photo by: Wilf Thorne
The Time is Now
8/6/2019 5:07:00 PM | Football
Myles Adams heads into his senior year healthy and ready to lead the Owls defensive front.
For all the things that can be grindingly familiar about a training camp, Myles Adams has found a new experience that is entirely to his liking—good health.
With 35 games and five starts on his resume, Adams is the most experienced member of the Owls retooled defensive wall and is poised to put the combination of experience and good health to good effect this fall.
"I've been battling some things since my freshman year. One year it was one side of my body and the next it was the other side. I'm very excited to accept the challenge and show what I can do with a healthy body. I haven't had a healthy body since my senior year of high school, so I'm kind of excited for that."
A second team all-state selection as an offensive lineman at Mansfield Summit High School in Arlington, Texas, Adams was targeted for the defensive line for the Owls, only the transition came much sooner than expected.
He made his debut in the 2017 opener at WKU and played in 10 of 12 games. Despite his nagging injuries, he played in every game in both 2017 and 2018, totaling 16 tackles as a reserve in 2017 and 27 in 2018 as he split starting assignments with Elijah Garcia. He has also played in 29 consecutive games on the defensive front wall.
He finished the season with a career-best six tackles and ended the year ranked second on the team with five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
"He should have played more (last year) but with the reps that he got, he had the highest grades of anyone on the defensive line," Owls defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun said. "Myles can play multiple positions, but he has a home now. He's ready, his shoulders are good, he knows ball, he's played a lot of ball. He's going to be our leader."
Adams, Garcia, Anthony Ekpe and Trey Schuman have clearly established themselves at the top of the depth chart, but the ranks behind them are populated with younger players who they now are charged with bringing along.
"The d-line is relatively young. We have a couple guys inside like me and Elijah Garcia who have some starting experience but we have to pull these young guys along so we can have some depth. That was an issue we had last year."
Adams can speak from first-hand experience of how suddenly you can go from being a freshman backup to a member of the playing rotation.
"I try to emphasize the fact that your number can be called at any time because if any of us goes down, they'll have to step up. One of our freshmen (De'Braylon Carroll) is already moving up and getting #2 reps in certain packages. I let him know his opportunity is going to be coming very soon. We don't take reps lightly. We have to emphasize our practice and our focus and make sure we're diligent in our preparation."
As much as he enjoys their efforts on the field, Adams also enjoys the culture developing in their position meeting room.
"We have a lot of different personalities on the defensive line and when we come together, we're kind of rowdy in our room. It's a cohesive, but edgy d-line."
After a solid start to camp, the Owls will take a break from the practice field, but Adams already has his sights set on the work ahead.
"These past six days have been very productive. We'll have an off day tomorrow, then come back and have a really good next six-day period, get sharper and get ready for Army."
With 35 games and five starts on his resume, Adams is the most experienced member of the Owls retooled defensive wall and is poised to put the combination of experience and good health to good effect this fall.
"I've been battling some things since my freshman year. One year it was one side of my body and the next it was the other side. I'm very excited to accept the challenge and show what I can do with a healthy body. I haven't had a healthy body since my senior year of high school, so I'm kind of excited for that."
A second team all-state selection as an offensive lineman at Mansfield Summit High School in Arlington, Texas, Adams was targeted for the defensive line for the Owls, only the transition came much sooner than expected.
He made his debut in the 2017 opener at WKU and played in 10 of 12 games. Despite his nagging injuries, he played in every game in both 2017 and 2018, totaling 16 tackles as a reserve in 2017 and 27 in 2018 as he split starting assignments with Elijah Garcia. He has also played in 29 consecutive games on the defensive front wall.
He finished the season with a career-best six tackles and ended the year ranked second on the team with five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
"He should have played more (last year) but with the reps that he got, he had the highest grades of anyone on the defensive line," Owls defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun said. "Myles can play multiple positions, but he has a home now. He's ready, his shoulders are good, he knows ball, he's played a lot of ball. He's going to be our leader."
Adams, Garcia, Anthony Ekpe and Trey Schuman have clearly established themselves at the top of the depth chart, but the ranks behind them are populated with younger players who they now are charged with bringing along.
"The d-line is relatively young. We have a couple guys inside like me and Elijah Garcia who have some starting experience but we have to pull these young guys along so we can have some depth. That was an issue we had last year."
Adams can speak from first-hand experience of how suddenly you can go from being a freshman backup to a member of the playing rotation.
"I try to emphasize the fact that your number can be called at any time because if any of us goes down, they'll have to step up. One of our freshmen (De'Braylon Carroll) is already moving up and getting #2 reps in certain packages. I let him know his opportunity is going to be coming very soon. We don't take reps lightly. We have to emphasize our practice and our focus and make sure we're diligent in our preparation."
As much as he enjoys their efforts on the field, Adams also enjoys the culture developing in their position meeting room.
"We have a lot of different personalities on the defensive line and when we come together, we're kind of rowdy in our room. It's a cohesive, but edgy d-line."
After a solid start to camp, the Owls will take a break from the practice field, but Adams already has his sights set on the work ahead.
"These past six days have been very productive. We'll have an off day tomorrow, then come back and have a really good next six-day period, get sharper and get ready for Army."
Players Mentioned
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