The point was made that yes, Adams did have a lot of yards after contact, but a lot of them would be after running through a huge hole, then grazing or pushing a small DB and then getting credit for running 50 yards after "contact"; when really it was if no one had touched him. Most of his "after contact" yards weren't like what you would see from a Nick Chubb or Leonard Fornette.
Adams struggled dearly when it game to non-Mac level defenses. And don't blame it on the OL. We practically supplied the NFL with 1st round linemen every year while Adams was in school. I'm not trying to knock the guy. He had a great career at ND, but I think he was a bit overrated when it came to running against real time defenses. Take a look at the below.
Freshman year:
100+ yard games: Massachusetts, Pitt, Wake, Stanford
< 50 yds: Texas, Virginia, GT, Clemson, Navy, USC, Boston College & 78 against Ohio St.
Soph:
100+ yard games: Nevada, Syracuse, Va. Tech, USC
< 50 yds: Texas, Mich St, Duke, NC St, Stanford, Miami, Navy, Army
Jr Year:
200 yds: NC St
100+ yard games: Temple, Boston College, Miami OH, North Carolina, USC, Navy
<50: UGA, Michigan St, Wake, Miami, Stanford, LSU
Total:
100+ yds against mid-tier to Mac level schools: (11) Massachusetts, Pitt, Wake, Nevada, Syracuse, NC St, Temple, BC, Miami OH, NC, Navy
100+ yds against competitive to Elite schools: (4) Stanford, Va Tech, USC, USC
<50 yds against mid-tier to Mac level schools: (8) GT, Navy, BC, Duke, NC St, Navy, Army, Wake
<50 yds against competitive to Elite Schools: (14) Texas, Virginia, Clemson, USC, OSU (78), Texas, MSU, Stanford, Miami, UGA, MSU, Miami, Stanford, LSU
19 games against weak competition: 100+ yds: (11/19) = 58% <50 yds: (8/19) = 42%
18 games against quality competition: 100+ yds: (4/18) = 22% <50 yds: (14/18) = 78%
Looks can be decieving. You remember the long runs but forget the competition he was generally playing against with all those long runs. Most of them came against Mac level schools. When Adams played against the big boys his production fell through the floor as shown above.
See my point now?
Link: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/josh-adams-2/gamelog/2017/