Adkins grew up in Mesa, Arizona, and had been playing guitar since at least the early age of two. He has cited Def Leppard's song Photograph as an early influence that sparked his desire to become a guitarist, and had also learned songs by hair metal bands such as Mötley Crüe. Although he had an early preference for virtuosic guitar players, he broadened his horizons after being introduced to Fugazi by a cousin in Nebraska, where his family comes from. Adkins has also stated that Drive Like Jehu is his favorite guitar-based band, and his love of the band inspired him to seek out drummer Mark Trombino to produce 1996's Static Prevails. To date, Trombino has produced four of Jimmy Eat World's records.
While attending Mountain View High School, Adkins formed a band named Sonic Pudding which later changed its name, first to I Ate The Sandbox and then to Schon Theory. This band's style leaned towards West Coast alternative rock bands such as Drive Like Jehu and Rocket from the Crypt. Adkins co-formed Jimmy Eat World in 1993 after being invited by drummer Zach Lind, who Adkins had known since preschool, to form a band with him. Around this time, Adkins teamed up with Joel Leibow to help promote Mesa as a touring spot for musicians in order to build up a local scene. The band released their self-titled debut in 1994, with Adkins primarily on guitar and contributing lead vocals on only a single track, with his other vocal work being backing vocals. Adkins later attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff for a time until he was pursued by an agent from Capitol Records. Their second album Static Prevails saw Linton and Adkins trading spots as the lead vocalist from track to track, and their album Clarity saw Adkins taking over lead vocals for all but one of the tracks.
As a result of the runaway critical success of Clarity and the things that surrounded it, Adkins was quoted a few months after its release as saying he had "grown up a little bit," and also said of himself that "I didn't know quite as much as I thought I did when I was 18." Reflecting on the critical and commercial success of Jimmy Eat World's 2001 album Bleed American almost two decades after its release, Adkins claimed that his songwriting in the early days of Jimmy Eat World was "100 percent" unconscious (that is, spontaneous), but that over time he developed a conscious need to make sure each of Jimmy Eat World's records stand up on their own by having a reason for their creation.

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