Penn State tight end Theo Johnson (84) warms up for an NCAA college football game against Rutgers, Saturday, Nov.18, 2023, in State College, Pa. Johnson will be the lone Canadian tight end at the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Barry Reeger
Patience has finally paid off for Jim Nagy.
The executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl said Tuesday his organization has been watching Canadian offensive lineman Isaiah Adams for the past two years.
Had the Ajax., Ont., native declared for the 2023 NFL draft, chances are he would’ve been invited to the Senior Bowl.
The invitation was ultimately sent – and accepted – following Adams’ senior campaign. Nagy is keen to watch the six-foot-five, 320-pound lineman perform during American college football’s top all-star event at Mobile, Ala.
Practices begin Jan. 30 with the game slated for Feb. 3.
“We’re looking forward to getting him down here,” Nagy said during a telephone interview. “We’ve got a really good interior defensive line crew coming down and so he’s going to be facing some really high-level competition.
“Isaiah is a really good player. I think he’s going to be an NFL starter.”
Adams will be one of two Canadians in Alabama. The other will be Penn State tight end Theo Johnson, a six-foot-six, 264-pound native of Windsor, Ont.
Tanner McLachlan of Lethbridge, Ont., a six-foot-five, 240-pound tight end at Arizona, was also invited. But he won’t participate after suffering an unspecified injury while training.
“It’s unfortunate because all of these guys get an invite for a reason,” Nagy said. “We think they’re draftable players.
“Hopefully he can work through this thing and at least have a pro day.”
Former CFL quarterback Kerry Joseph, who served as an assistant coach last season with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, will also coach the American team quarterbacks in Mobile.
Adams, 23, has taken the long path to the Senior Bowl.
After finishing high school in Ontario, Adams began his college career at Wilfrid Laurier before heading to Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan. Adams spent one year there then enrolled at Illinois, where he’s played the last two seasons.
Adams, 23, made 25 straight starts at Illinois. He earned third-team All-Big Ten honours in 2022 and was an All-Big Ten honourable mention in 2023 when also serving as a team captain.
Adams’ goal in Mobile will be to re-establish himself at guard after making 10 starts in ’23 at tackle.
“We see him primarily as a guard at the next level,” Nagy said. “He helped himself this year, he really played out of position at tackle because his team needed him to and I think it proved to NFL teams that if they had to play him out there he could do it in a pinch.
“He could’ve played guard and had a dominant year and probably better tape at guard but he did it for the good of his team. I think it shows the NFL he’s a really good teammate and cares about the team first. That’s going to help him.”
Johnson had 34 catches for 341 yards and seven TDs last season, all career highs, to secure an honourable mention All-Big Ten selection. Johnson appeared in 45 games over four seasons – playing as a true freshman – at Penn State, registering 77 receptions for 938 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“He’s a big athlete and a really easy mover for a guy his size, he’s really smooth,” Nagy said. “He was probably underutilized at Penn State but that’s not a knock on what they’re doing there, they do an excellent job.
“But they had two tight ends this year and weapons at wide receiver so there’s not a lot of balls to go around. You’ve also got good running backs there so this will be a big week for him because he’s going to get plenty of targets and be able to show off that athleticism. He’s got some run after catch ability and that really gets you excited when you see some of that and what he can do with the ball in his hands.”
However, Senior Bowl players will be graded on more than just physical ability.
“All of these decision makers – GMs, head coaches, co-ordinators, position coaches – are down there on the field,” Nagy said. “They can see facial expressions, they can see body language.
“You’re going to lose reps. That will tell how you’ve battled back and handled those losses and competed moving forward. That’s what teams are going to be looking for. They don’t expect you to be perfect, they just want to see what you’re made of competitively.”
The three Canadian invitations came after four participated in last year’s game before ultimately being drafted. Offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons, defensive end Tavius Robinson went in the fourth round to the Baltimore Ravens while safety Sydney Brown and his twin brother Chase, a running back, were selected in the third and fifth rounds by Philadelphia and Cincinnati, respectively.
Other Canadians to play in the Senior Bowl before reaching the NFL include: L.A. Chargers receiver Josh Palmer; Arizona Cardinals linebacker Jesse Luketa; Washington Commanders’ cornerback Benjamin St-Juste; L.A Rams tackle Alaric Jackson; Miami Dolphins receiver Chase Claypool; and Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Neville Gallimore.
“I think it certainly speaks to the fact there’s good football being played up there,” Nagy said. “We’ve had a really nice run on Canadian players over the last five years.
“They didn’t really have a scouting department before we got here and we’re trying to do this like NFL teams and I think that helps us find some guys that maybe the Senior Bowl wasn’t finding in the past. I also think there’s probably better coaching and development going on in Canada because these kids are coming out and they’re playing.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2024.
