The summary -
Adams is far better in coverage than he's given credit for, due in part to a rating system that is subjective and doesn't take into consideration the nuance of a defense.
He is intended to fill the role of what is described as the Alvin Kamara or CMC are, but for our defense.
Neal is a good player but isn't remotely the physical or instinctive talent that Jamal is.
Well worth the watch, especially for those who think he's a overrated.
The reality is that the dude was just last year becoming a key feature that a significant portion of the defense was being built around. Perception has been steered negatively with Jamal because of the very few occassions where his man skills were shown to be at times lacking and teammates that were often blowing assignments that he was being blamed for.
Jamal would have been a KEY cog in shoring up some of the deficiencies we have, in those 'grey' areas where good qb's are able to get us out of position by audibling pass to run or vice versa based on our personnel. Jamal afforded us the ability to counter either pass or run from a base set with his speed, second to none ability to read a play and blow it up, particularly when dropping down to support linebackers in the run game.
Neal can do maybe* 2/3rds of what Jamal can, but he's just not the force that 33 is, nor does he force offenses to scheme around him.
As a centerpiece to this defense, he is most definitely missed, and a good bit of the reason the personnel shortcomings we've experienced (Barton making poor reads- and just not being good enough- and Brooks overpursuing) have been exposed the way they have. Adams no doubt would have covered up a lot of the failures we've seen and himself been another piece opposing offenses would have had to deal with - particularly when allowing Adams to drop down in 3 safety packages that bring Neal onto the field and allow Adams to rush the passer or play run support.
