Vernon Adams Jr. is trending.

The former Eastern Washington - and yes, Oregon - quarterback is coming off a performance in last week's East-West Shrine Game that was so impressive, some folks want new San Francisco coach Chip Kelly to grab Adams in the NFL draft.

Yes, he's that good - good enough that on Wednesday, Adams received an invitation to the NFL Combine

Those of us in the Inland Northwest already knew that after watching him for four years at Eastern Washington. Adams himself hasn't grown - he's still under 6 feet tall - but his audience multiplied during his lone year at Oregon.

It's still an uphill battle, but many analysts believe Adams deserves a shot at the NFL. As one analyst put it, Adams "did everything but grow 6 inches" during his Shrine game performance.

The bottom line: Adams just wants a  fighting chance, as he told me before the Shrine Game.

NFLScout.com ranks him 15th among quarterback prospects, as does CBSSports.com. 

And how is Adams handling all of this? "Life is what you make it," he said yesterday on Twitter to his 12,000-plus followers.

If the NFL doesn't work out, he's expected to give the CFL a shot. He also might return to Oregon as an assistant coach, he said last month.

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