Generally, a post like this becomes an orgy of statistics: touchdowns, yards, comparisons to peers. I have about an hour before I have to pick up my son from school, so I don’t have time for stats. Besides, stats only underscore Jonathan Adams’ greatness.

It’s easy to gauge Adams’ greatness because we just witnessed the greatness of Omar Bayless, who turned in the best season of any NCAA receiver in 2019. Their games are similar. Opposing secondaries regard them with identical terror. Neither dominated until their Senior years. Both receivers made corners and safeties look like junior varsity apprentices.

Bayless was a maestro of focus; his hands the metacarpal embodiment of the La Brea Tar Pits. You need only throw it to Bayless’ rough coordinates, and he’d make the play – often one-handed – as defenders fell helplessly to his feet.

Adams is more a Mr. Hyde – a brutish beast of a man who will beat you with a sensational catch or a bruising block. While Bayless used insane concentration to bring in catches, Adams simply pushes his body to the ball, regardless of what happens to be occupying the space. The space belongs to Adams.

I’ve seen good-to-great receivers pass through Jonesboro in recent times: Dwayne Frampton, JD McKissic, and Taylor Stockemer are a few. Nobody stacks up to Bayless and Adams, two conductors in the symphony of catching footballs. They are frequent guest stars of YouTube and ESPN highlight reels. Both answer to the alias, “How The Hell Did He Catch That?” Of all the stars that have shined before Bayless and Adams, McKissic comes closest, though his game was far different – a “scat back” with a variety of uses. Bayless and Adams are wideouts in the classic mode, more celestial than human.

2020 has taken far more than it has given, but at least it gave us Johnathan Adams. Huzzah.