Philadelphia Eagles: Avonte Maddox really isn’t an outside cornerback
It appears the Philadelphia Eagles still need an answer at CB2.
Through the Philadelphia Eagles‘ first 11 games of the season, Avonte Maddox has played 359 defensive snaps.
Do you want to know how many of those snaps came with the Pride of Pitt playing in the slot? 20, two zero.
Why is this relevant? Well, because Maddox just isn’t an outside cornerback.
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Now I know technically anyone can be an outside cornerback, an inside cornerback, or even a hybrid cornerback/safety, as in the modern NFL position naming convections aren’t all that rigid, but the way the Eagles play their cornerbacks, you’d think we’re in 1999; when players like of Darrell Green and Aaron Glenn excelled.
With 4.39 speed and a 37-inch vertical, Maddox should theoretically be able to match up against an opposing team’s smaller outside wide receiver – assuming that receiver isn’t a giant like Mike Evans or Mike Williams.
Has that been the case? No, for the vast majority of the 2020 NFL season, Slay and his outside compadre – whether that be Maddox, Mills, or even Nickell Robey-Coleman – have largely stuck to one-side and one-side only, with only the occasional bit of movement in specific situations and exotic opposing sets.
Fun fact: Slay has only played 25 snaps in the slot and 41 snaps in the box versus 545 snaps on the outside so yeah, he’s not really traveling much either.
Now again, this wouldn’t be a huge deal if Maddox was a physical beast willing to barrel for the ball like Russell Westbrook goes for a rebound, but thus far, through his nearly three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, that just hasn’t been the case. Maddox is a finesse player that all too often gets exploited by a bigger receiver with nothing more than a fadeaway.
I mean come on, did you even watch the Eagles-Giants game in Week 10? Need I say more than Sterling Shepard? How about the Eagles’ Week 11 bout against the Cleveland Browns? Maddox very well may have been the worst player on the field in a game low-lighted by Jason Peters’ worst performance since… well, maybe ever.
But in the slot? Boy, things could be so much different.
With much more space to work with and fewer opportunities for an opponent to take advantage of a sideline-skirting 50-50 ball, Maddox’s athletic abilities would far outweigh his physical shortcomings, turning arguably the team’s weakest link into a position of strength.
So naturally, with Cre’Von LeBlanc‘s season potentially over due to a high-ankle sprain that could send him to IR, the Eagles have the perfect opportunity to move Maddox inside once and for all and give his outside spot to a better-fitting player like, say, Michael Jacquet, right? It’s not like this is a new idea either; this has been an issue for quite some time.
Yeah, I wouldn’t count on it.
As sad as it is to say, the Eagles have been one of the least flexible teams in the NFL this season, with a seeming conviction to sink or swim based solely on their preferred style of play. It doesn’t matter what the score is, how poorly a play is being executed, or how often a singular player is torturing them; the Eagles are very rarely willing to change things up or play the sort of situational football that separates the good teams from the great teams in the NFL.
At this point, it’d be hard to even call the Eagles one of the good teams, let alone anything better than that.
dark. Next. Have the Philadelphia Eagles become over-reliant on practice squad players?
No, as unfortunate as it is to admit, the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t going to get this right. With their bye week already past, Avonte Maddox will all but surely finish out the season as Jim Schwartz’s second outside cornerback – barring injury of course – and will either be replaced in the offseason or outright released a la Rasul Douglas or Sidney Jones. Is that a tough pill to swallow? Most definitely, but hey, what else is being a Philly fan but a steady stream of all too predictable disappointments?