Forget your preconceived notions about a 5-foot-9 cornerback.
Avonte Maddox, who the Eagles selected Saturday in the fourth-round out of Pitt, has the toughness and intensity you’d expect from a much taller, much bigger kid.
“Avonte, first time I was able to see him was down at the East-Wise (ShrineGame),” Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas said Saturday.
“Highly competitive. Highly competitive. You could see that in every 1-on-1 rep. Change of direction, you saw that at top of routes.
“Really good staying in phase with those guys, staying in their hip pocket and not letting them create separation. And always competitive.”
Maddox said he’s always had that extra little edge that a lot of bigger, taller finesse cornerbacks don’t have. Because at 5-9, 180 pounds, he has to.
“When you’re playing corner, you’ve always got to be willing to compete,” Maddox said.
NFL
“I’m a very competitive person. At home when I’m playing a video game, I’m always competitive. I want to win. My main goal is to win and you’ve got to compete to win, and when you’re small you’ve got to compete much harder.
“I’m tough. I’ll stick my nose in there, I like to tackle. If I’ve got to stick my nose in there, I’ll be the first one in there.”
Maddox is the fourth corner the Eagles have taken in the first four rounds over the last four years, following Eric Rowe in the second round in 2015 and Sidney Jones in the second round and Rasul Douglas in the third round last year.
Maddox joins a stable of young corners that includes Douglas, Jones, 2016 seventh-round pick Jalen Mills and former Bill Ronald Darby, who is going into a contract year.
Why another cornerback?
Because they liked him that much.
“You can never have too many,” Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said.
“Depth’s important in this league and also grooming players. The draft isn’t about filling needs, it’s about the long-term interest of your football team.
“We have to make sure we not only have the right players for us in that room this year, which we do, but we also have the right players going forward.”
The Eagles lost valuable veteran slot corner Patrick Robinson to free agency this offseason, and the slot could be where the Eagles look at Maddox first.
“Inside, outside, it doesn’t matter,” Maddox said. “Wherever those guys need me to play I’m willing to do it. If it’s inside, I’ll be happy there and give it my all. If it’s outside, I’ll be happy there and give it my all. It doesn’t matter.”
Maddox started six games as a true freshman at Pitt in the fall of 2014 and then was a full-time starter the last three years, recording eight interceptions, 13 1/2 tackles for loss and 31 pass break-ups over those last three years.
He’s also an effective blitzer and recorded seven career sacks, a very high number for a cornerback. He had four sacks last year.
He was one of just three cornerbacks in Division 1 to record both seven sacks and seven interceptions over the last three years.
“It’s fun,” he said. “Get a chance to take down a quarterback, make a play on third down and get people off the field. Excited to keep doing that.”
Maddox is the first defensive back the Eagles have ever drafted out of Pitt and the first player they’ve taken out of the cross-state university since running backs LeSean McCoy in 2009 and Dion Lewis in 2011.
“We had our eye on him, really hoping when the day opened that he would fall to us,” Roseman said.
“An extremely competitive, twitchy player. Has experience inside and outside, special teams, has some return value, captain, extremely competitive.”
By twitchy, Roseman means Maddox is explosive, has great footwork and changes direction decisively.
“We talked about fit last week and this is a guy that fits in with our DB room,” Roseman said.
“It’s a group of highly competitive guys and he’s going to blend in perfectly. Even though he’s not the biggest guy he will attack. He is a productive tackler.”