During his rookie season, when asked which position he plays, Avonte corrected a reporter and said he is a DB, not a corner or safety. That year, he played significant snaps at corner, slot, and safety and this versatility has been a big aspect of his career.
Since his rookie year, though, this versatility has not been used with him exclusively playing the slot in 2019 and outside corner in 2020. And this season the signing of Steve Nelson (I learned he goes by Steve, not Steven, which still seems odd to me…) pushes Avonte back to the slot, which most say is his natural or better position.
But is Avonte a slot corner? His stats in coverage and his traits both point to him best used more as a free safety. He will always be versatile and has the potential to play a role like Tyrann Mathieu who plays a safety / slot hybrid.
Avonte’s career to date
The arc of Avonte’s career is interesting. While his versatility is such a strength and he showed it early in his career, his second and third years were very dedicated roles in the secondary.
2018 Draft Profile: Maddox was taken in the 4th round of the 2018 draft to fill Patrick Robinson’s spot after he left in free agency. Coming out of Pitt, Avonte’s draft profile projected him as a slot corner with the following key points:
- Strengths: High character, physical, willing tackler, twitchy and fluid athlete
- Weaknesses: Size, issues in man coverage with mirroring receivers and giving too much cushion, susceptible to fakes with his aggressiveness
2018 Rookie Season – Playing Everywhere
Avonte quickly entered the Eagles lineup at free safety, a position he never played before, after Rodney McLeod was lost for the season. He showed his versatility throughout the season, playing safety (226 snaps, or 44% of total snaps), slot (109 snaps, 21%), and outside corner (174 snaps, 34%) and receiving accolades as a top corner in the league:
2019 Season – Slot
With a healthier secondary and Darby, Jalen Mills, Sidney Jones, and Rasul Douglas all in play, Avonte almost exclusively played slot, with 81% of his snaps being slot, only 17% on the outside, and almost nothing at safety with McLeod back. In 2019, Maddox came back to Earth with his passer rating allowed rising from 59.9 in 2018 to 95.5 in 2019 and his yards per coverage snap more than doubling from 0.56 in 2018 to 1.21 in 2019.
2020 Season – Outside Corner
The Eagles finally address CB1 with the trade for Darius Slay and then move Avonte from the slot to the other outside corner with the signing of Nickell Robey-Coleman. Like 2019, Avonte again almost exclusively lines up in a single position (outside corner). Many were doubtful on Avonte’s fit on the outside and his results showed, turning in his worst season with a 102.7 passer rating allowed, 1.36 yards per coverage snap, and a 37.1 coverage grade. Out of the 8 games he played more than 10 coverage snaps, Avonte gave up a 100 or greater passer rating in 5 of the 8 games.
2021 Season: Avonte is likely moving back to the slot, his primary 2019 position although it will be interesting to see how Jonathan Gannon uses him.
Why safety may be Avonte’s best position
His versatility is a strength and makes him extremely valuable, but few players are moved around (or can be) like he is. After missing out on top corners in the draft and having little cap space to work with, the Eagles definitely improved their secondary with the signings of Nelson at outside corner and Anthony Harris at free safety. Both are one-year deals and both are good signings. But ideally, Avonte would have taken the Anthony Harris role and a slot corner would have been added. The Eagles still have longer-term issues with almost all secondary positions needing a solution past this year or next. Avonte can be a piece of this if used in the right way.
Here are Avonte’s career stats across the three positions:
| Position | Career Coverage Snaps | Completion % Allowed | Yds / Cov Snap | Passer Rating Allowed |
| Free safety | 234 | 60.0% | 0.33 | 65.0 |
| Slot | 538 | 65.6% | 1.05 | 87.4 |
| Outside Corner | 657 | 57.5% | 1.17 | 76.8 |
His outside corner numbers aren’t great, but his slot numbers are more similar than most realize. Both the 1.05 yards per coverage snap and the 87.4 passer rating allowed in the slot would put Avonte between 40-50th in the league.
There is a little bit of “small sample size” with free safety as only 16% of his career snaps were at safety – a 0.33 yards per coverage snap rate is near elite and would put Avonte in the top 10-12 in the league, near Jessie Bates, Adrian Amos, and Marcus Maye. But he is very good there and his traits also point to safety:
- Highly intelligent player that sees the field and understands route responsibilities
- Solid tackler and plays fearlessly for his size
- Great burst and speed that allows him to close
- Plays more naturally with cushion on receivers
- Aggressive but is susceptible to double moves and fakes, plays better with the play in front of him
This is an older clip from his rookie season but Ike Reese and Mike Quick breakdown several plays that demonstrate why he was good at safety with route recognition, his closing speed, and tackling: https://youtu.be/aRsZ2B3MP0I?t=83
Looking forward to 2021
There is so much to be excited for in 2021 and interesting things to watch for, even if the Eagles aren’t a great team. One of them is how Gannon uses the defensive backs. They have consistently said they will scheme to the players’ strengths and are already showing much more flexibility in formations and roles than we have seen before (including quite a bit of 3-4 alignment). To me, how Avonte is used by Gannon will be one the most interesting thing to watch this year… I imagine he will not be so singly used as he has the past two years and I expect he will play more safety and slot combinations (and probably some pass rush).
I mentioned Tyrann Mathieu earlier and it is tough to make player comparisons like that but Avonte has the athleticism, the ability to see the field, the toughness, and the versatility to play a very similar role. And his rookie season safety stats show he can play at a level much above how he has been used the past two years.