Philadelphia Eagles: Please don’t move Avonte Maddox to safety

On Monday afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles were officially awarded slot cornerback Jimmy Moreland off of waivers after being released by the Houston Texans on May 20th.

Why, you may ask, does that name sound familiar? Well, because the Eagles put in a waiver claim for Moreland last year too, when he was released by the then-Washington Football Team after being drafted by the club in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

While that claim ultimately wasn’t successful, as Moreland was instead awarded to the Texans, the Eagles’ interest in the James Madison product clearly never wavered, even after only playing eight defensive snaps for Houston over seven games with the team.

All-in-all, it’s hard to be too critical about Moreland’s addition; he’s appeared in 37 games with 10 starts, has defended five passes, and even has a single interception to his name at the NFL level, ironically enough, one thrown by Carson Wentz in Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season. Outside of a puzzling decision to load up on slot cornerbacks, there’s little reason to be particularly alarmed by Moreland’s addition.

What is at least semi-alarming, however, is the extrapolation that some have taken from the Philadelphia Eagles’ most recent waiver wire claim, namely that Jonathan Gannon may be toying with the idea of moving Avonte Maddox, the team’s starting slot cornerback in 2021, back to safety.

… yeah, don’t do that.

Avonte Maddox was too good in the slot for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021.

2021 was a make-or-break year for Philadelphia Eagles’ 2018 fourth-round pick Avonte Maddox.

After bouncing around the defensive secondary during his first two professional seasons and a disastrous 2020 run where he was horribly miscast as an outside cornerback despite measuring in at just 5-foot-9, 184 pounds, Maddox was finally given a chance to play the position many assumed was his natural spot, slot cornerback, and thus prove once and for all whether or not he had a future in the NFL, let alone deserved a contract extension to keep him in South Philadelphia long-term.

*spoiler alert* Maddox make’d it.

Despite Howie Roseman bringing in Josiah Scott, a 2020 fourth-round pick out of Michigan State from the Jacksonville Jaguars, to compete for the role previously filled by Nickell Robey-Coleman, Maddox ran away with the first-team role in his fourth professional season and performed so well that he was rewarded a three-year, $22.5 million extension to remain teammates with his best friend, Dallas Goedert, for the foreseeable future.

Why? Because Maddox is a prototypical slot cornerback.

Between his 4.39 speed, good burst, and elite change-of-direction ability, as he ranked in the 99th percentile at the 3-cone drill according to Mockdraftable, Maddox’s ability to smoothly weave through traffic and stick with his man made him one of the peskiest cornerbacks in the NFL and his lack of height was easily mitigated on the inside. Maddox allowed a career-low 7.4 yards per completion on 74 targets, gave up just 412 yards on 56 catches, and only allowed a single passing touchdown versus a single interception, his first interception since 2018.

According to PFF, Maddox was the 23rd ranked cornerback in total defensive grading out of 116 qualifying performers and had the second-highest grade of predominantly slot cornerbacks behind only Las Vegas Raiders 2021 fifth-round pick, Nate Hobbs. He realistically should have earned more consideration for a spot on the Pro Bowl ballot and likely would have been a front-runner for a spot in the least-consequential game of the year had the NFL given a dedicated spot on each expositionary team to slot cornerbacks in the same way they do for special teamers and fullbacks.

Simply put, Maddox was one of the Eagles’ best defensive players in 2021, and forcing him to switch positions once more, even if he theoretically could play that role pretty well, just doesn’t make sense. Unless the Eagles plan to play Maddox at safety in base packages alongside Anthony Harris in their base defense and then slide him down to the slot in defensive sub-packages with Marcus Epps taking his spot deployed deep, which is admittedly sort of intriguing, forcing a fascinating slot performer some 12 yards off the line of scrimmage feels incredibly counterproductive.

Unless the Eagles know something about Scott’s development as a player coming into his third professional season, better to stick with what works than hope a change will produce similar results.

Avonte Maddox has the potential to be a very good slot cornerback for a very long time for the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s just 26, has incredible measurables, and knows every position in the defensive secondary inside and out. His talents are perfectly suited for what teams look for in a modern-day slot cornerback, and if he were to hit the open market right now, he might earn a new contract even richer than the one Howie Roseman agreed to last November. Why? Because he’s one of the best players in the NFL at what he does, and Philly would be foolish to move him out of a position he excels at instead of securing a safety-sized safety with experience playing safety, be that via free agency or trade.