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In Roob’s Observations: Can Eagles rely on Avonte Maddox in the slot? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Can the Eagles depend on Avonte Maddox in 2024? What are the Eagles’ options at running back? And why I was wrong about Michael Clay.
It’s our first offseason edition of Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations. Training camp is only five months away!
1. Avonte Maddox gives you everything you want in a nickel corner. He’s smart. He’s tough. He’s physical. He’s got great instincts. He’s a very good tackler. He moves well in space. He always plays hard. If you were going to design a nickel corner, you’d design Maddox, maybe plus a little more size. And that’s the problem. At 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Maddox can’t seem to stay healthy playing the physical brand of football we love about him. Maddox has missed 34 games in six NFL seasons, including six in 2020, eight in 2022 and 13 last year. And he’s played at less than 100 percent in several others along the way. We saw last year how hamstrung the Eagles’ secondary was with a ridiculous rotating cast of slot corners that included undrafted rookies, practice squad call-ups, converted outside corners and safeties, scrap-heat pickups and aging veterans. And while the easiest answer is to just stick Maddox out there, can the Eagles depend on him staying healthy for a full season or even most of a season? I don’t know how. Maddox has a $9.68 million cap hit in 2024 but would count $7.7 million if the Eagles release him, so he’ll almost certainly be here. But the Eagles can’t go into 2024 without finding someone who can man the slot in the event Maddox gets hurt again. It has to be a priority. Slot corner these days is essentially a starting position. Eli Ricks played a lot of inside snaps last year and showed some promise, and he could develop into that sort of player, but he’s not there yet. Zech McPhearson will be back after Achilles surgery, but we don’t know how good he is….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/roobs-observations-eagles-rely-avonte-155020044.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-02-18 15:50:20
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