Vernon Adams Comments on Jared Goff, 2016 NFL Draft and More

Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. figures to get a shot in some NFL training camp, but his chances of hearing his name called during the 2016 draft are a bit dicier.  

Adams nevertheless believes he is the second-best QB prospect behind North Dakota State's Carson Wentz—ahead of everyone in a rather deep class, including California's Jared Goff, per his comments to USA Today's Lindsay H. Jones from Sunday:

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I've played Jared Goff. They always want to talk about my hands being too small, but my hands are bigger than his. I've played in snowy games. I've played in rainy games. I've played in negative-15 degree games. Look at my wins to losses, look at my touchdowns to interceptions. Look at my career yards. I'm not a cocky dude, I just want everybody to know that everything that everyone else is doing, I can do it as well.

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The reason Adams puts Wentz out in front of all the other signal-callers, per Jones, is because of Wentz's experience in a pro-style offense.

Adams, who threw for 2,643 yards and 26 touchdowns to only six interceptions in 2015, believes he is slighted because of his height above all other factors but feels he can compensate with the size of his game:

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It's just so much on my height. … I'll meet a person on the plane, and we're talking and they’ll be like 'Oh you play quarterback, that's cool. But aren't you kind of short for a quarterback?' I'll just be like, 'Yeah, I am, but watch me play.' …

Put on the film when I wasn't playing, and put on the film when I was playing and see how much of a game-changer I was. Honestly, those words aren't just mine, it's my teammates that have told me that. They'll say, 'Man, forget your height, this is what you should tell the scouts.' That's what they say, and it really is the truth.

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Adams did go head-to-head against Goff this past season and accounted for five total touchdowns in a 44-28 Oregon win.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Adams' hands measured at 9 ⅛" to Goff's even nine inches. However, Goff's listed at 6'4" and 215 pounds, whereas Adams is only 5'11" and 200 pounds.

Although Adams has a bulkier, stronger frame than Goff, his shorter stature doesn't historically bode well for NFL quarterbacks. The only similarly diminutive QBs in recent memory who've had raging success are Russell Wilson and Drew Brees, who were drafted in the third and second rounds, respectively.

Bleacher Report draft expert Matt Miller has heard Adams won't go anywhere near that high in the 2016 draft:

Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reported this past Wednesday that Adams didn't have any private workouts or predraft visits with any NFL teams. Every club giving him the cold shoulder on visits is certain to add to the chip on Adams' shoulder.

Adams did a commendable job in a tough spot as the successor to Oregon legend Marcus Mariota and put together three productive seasons at Eastern Washington, highlighted by a 2013 campaign in which he threw for 55 TDs, per the Washington Post.

Scouts don't seem to believe in Adams' potential as a pro. He did tell Jones he'll be grateful for any opportunity in the NFL, even as a priority free agent, and that whichever team gets him will love him.