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Ishmael Adams, UCLA Bruins starting nickel back, arrested for reportedly stealing cell phone from Uber driver

Huge blow.

By Avinash Kunnath
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA defensive back Ishmael Adams was arrested for on-campus robbery, reports Daily Bruin Sports. He apparently took the cell phone of an Uber driver, reports Jack Wang.

According to UCLA, Adams was taken into custody at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday for allegedly using force to take a cell phone away from an Uber driver.

Adams's bail is set at $100,000. Here is the official statement from UCLA.

Adams  was not only the starting cornerback for UCLA, but he was also the team's primary kick & punt returner. Adams registered 41 tackles, 4 passes broken up and two interceptions. He was ranked as perhaps the best defensive back in the Pac-12 for his abilities on both defense and special teams.

You have to think that even if Adams is cleared of all charges, he’s probably off the football team for 2015. This is a huge blow for a UCLA secondary that was relying on Adams to take that next step and be a versatile weapon who could perform as both a cornerback, play nickel, and be that dynamic weapon on special teams.

The good news for UCLA is that defensively they should be able to manage with depth--the secondary is the deepest unit on the whole team.  Fabian Moreau is an All-American level corner and Marcus Rios was probably going to be the starting corner over Adams anyway.

The Bruins now have a couple of options with what they could do for the third cornerback spot since they will probably play a lot of nickel this year.

  • They move someone like Randall Goforth back from safety and upgrade someone like Tahaan Goodman to starter reps
  • UCLA could rely on a youngster for their 3rd CB on their two deep: DeChaun Holiday, Charles Dawson, John Johnson or Denzel Fisher are all in the mix.

There is no immediate cure for special teams though. Expect a host of the other talent on secondary like Jaleel Wadood or Randall Goforth to challenge for a spot.

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