27 Days, 27 Picks: DE Gaines Adams
In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.
The next player in our series, Gaines Adams, was drafted by the Bucs with the No. 4 pick in 2007. He was traded to the Bears in 2009, but his career was tragically cut short when he passed away from a heart problem at age 26.
Here is the draft rundown on Adams below:
College Stats
USA TODAY Network
Gaines Adams played college at Clemson. He was a unanimous All-American, voted to the All-ACC team and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.*
Year | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Sck | Loss | FF |
2006 | 11 | 26 | 19 | 45 | 8.5 | 11.0 | 3 |
2007 | 12 | 33 | 18 | 51 | 12.5 | 16.0 | 2 |
Total | 25 | 59 | 37 | 96 | 21.0 | 27.5 | 5 |
*Only stats from his 2006 and 2007 year are available online.
Pre-Draft Measurements
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
6 ft 4 3/4 in | 258 lb | 4.66s | 1.64s | 2.73s | 4.36s | 7.17s | 35 in | 9 ft 11 in | 21 reps |
Pick Selected
Photo by Pouya Dianat-USA TODAY Sports © Copyright Pouya Dianat
Gaines Adams was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2007 NFL draft.
Player selected before him: OT Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns
Player selected after him: OT Levi Brown, Penn State
NFL Stats
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Adams played three seasons in the NFL. He played three seasons for the Bucs and one for the Bears.
Year | Team | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Sck | Loss | PD | FF |
2007 | TB | 16 | 28 | 10 | 38 | 6.0 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
2008 | TB | 16 | 27 | 11 | 38 | 6.5 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
2009 | TB/CHI | 15 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Total | 47 | 67 | 26 | 93 | 13.5 | 13 | 11 | 3 |
Player Footage
Pick Analysis
Byron Hetzler-USA TODAY Sports
It’s impossible to measure what Gaines Adams’ career could have been, as he tragically died untimely from a heart issue at 26 years old.
He played for the Bucs for two and a half seasons before the team traded him to the Bears in 2009. Whether the Bucs should have traded Gaines is up for debate, as he had a productive rookie year with 6.0 sacks and followed it up with a 6.5-sack season. He was traded to Chicago, where he had far less production. The pick that he was traded for was eventually used by the Patriots to select Rob Gronkowski.
It is unfortunately impossible to see where else Adams’ career trajectory would have gone, but perhaps the Bucs were remiss to trade him so early in his career when he showed promise in his first two seasons.
