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Avonte Maddox

C

Chescat

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Jul 5, 2001
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Started yesterday for the Eagles at SAFETY. He played pretty well despite never having
played that position before. The Philadelphia Inquirer today gave him a "thumbs up"
(one of only a few players) for his performance.
What comes to mind is, how can this happen when Pitt had him identified as a corner?
Maddox played four years as a CB at Pitt, and now somehow becomes a starter at
Safety in the pros. IMO his, is one amazing story!

Not sure about Paris Ford, but many posters here think he should also be a safety. I'm
sure the Narduzzi lovers would say..."look how well Narduzzi prepares his DB's that
they can go into the pros and start as a rookie.:
The Narduzzi haters might instead say...." Narduzzi doesn't know the right position
for his DB's and is wasting Paris Ford."
 
Jakey_John said:
Maddox has been good since his sophomore year. His height has always been his biggest detriment.
Click to expand...


I agree, but would you expect him to be a starter at a position he never played
in his rookie year in the pros? Better yet, how many on here really believed
he'd even make the pros? With that said, I'm glad he did. Actually I'm amazed
at what he's done.
 
Last edited:
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Yeah those are all very good questions. I’m not surprised he got a shot in the pros but I’m shocked he’s as good as he is.

In regards to being able to play safety, you’re right. Who would have thought it would play out that way?
 
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Jakey_John said:
Maddox has been good since his sophomore year. His height has always been his biggest detriment.
Click to expand...
I have said on here in the past that the only reason we got Avante to come here was because he had that height deficiency. If he was 6' 2" he would have been at Michigan or Alabama or somewhere similar. He had alot of talent and was always on an island. He almost never got beat due to being out of position, or because he was to slow to stay with his guy, it was al
ways because of his height. Free Safety is actually a good spot for him, it mitigates his height issues, and lets him use his speed and ball skills to make plays. In addition, he must be a pretty smart little bugger to pick up the position so quickly.

Where does Paris Ford fit into this? It seems to me that he could be a very similar type player. Like Avante, he has a nose for the ball and really could be special if given a chance to read the QB and react. The Duzz's quarters coverage doesn't really allow for this. Ford is a versatile athlete, he could have been used to spy Milton or Dungey at key times in the last two games. Once again, the Duzz'z system is rigid, and there is no room for a spy.

I am one of the guys who saw him play numerous times in his senior year. I saw a game he played at Valley. He returned a punt at what seemed like half speed for a 70 yd TD. I saw all his playoff games that year including the state final. As the competition improved, so did he. He easily stood out as the best player on the field. Granted he was not asked to cover one-on-one all that much. That said, there is no doubting the kids speed and athletic ability. Did I mention that he loves to hit people and blow them up as well.

Unless he is not attending class or meetings, or is late for meetings or has been lazy in workouts and practice, then there is no excuse for Duzz not to roll him out there. I tell you, the kid just needs a chance, i guess our genius coach doesn't care if we lose him.
 
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I hope he makes millions and donates some back to where it all started, pitt.
 
88Pitt88 said:
I have said on here in the past that the only reason we got Avante to come here was because he had that height deficiency. If he was 6' 2" he would have been at Michigan or Alabama or somewhere similar. He had alot of talent and was always on an island. He almost never got beat due to being out of position, or because he was to slow to stay with his guy, it was al
ways because of his height. Free Safety is actually a good spot for him, it mitigates his height issues, and lets him use his speed and ball skills to make plays. In addition, he must be a pretty smart little bugger to pick up the position so quickly.

Where does Paris Ford fit into this? It seems to me that he could be a very similar type player. Like Avante, he has a nose for the ball and really could be special if given a chance to read the QB and react. The Duzz's quarters coverage doesn't really allow for this. Ford is a versatile athlete, he could have been used to spy Milton or Dungey at key times in the last two games. Once again, the Duzz'z system is rigid, and there is no room for a spy.

I am one of the guys who saw him play numerous times in his senior year. I saw a game he played at Valley. He returned a punt at what seemed like half speed for a 70 yd TD. I saw all his playoff games that year including the state final. As the competition improved, so did he. He easily stood out as the best player on the field. Granted he was not asked to cover one-on-one all that much. That said, there is no doubting the kids speed and athletic ability. Did I mention that he loves to hit people and blow them up as well.

Unless he is not attending class or meetings, or is late for meetings or has been lazy in workouts and practice, then there is no excuse for Duzz not to roll him out there. I tell you, the kid just needs a chance, i guess our genius coach doesn't care if we lose him.
Click to expand...

Big difference between being elite against Valley versus being elite against high level D1 competition

Duzz said Ford is going to be a great safety. Hes just not there yet. Lets hope he works hard and is patient as I do think hell be starting next year and possibly get more PT this year. Clearly Ford is not doing something the coaches expect because they used Pinnock and Mathis last year as true frosh.
 
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You generally want your best DBs playing corner. There is a reason corners sometimes switch to safety in the twilight of their careers; when you aren't as physically gifted you won't get exposed at safety like you will at CB. Duzz using Maddox at corner and the Eagles using him at safety doesn't say anything bad. What IS bad is that Duzz had such a bad defense with 3 NFL defensive backs in 2016.
 
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pittbb80 said:
Big difference between being elite against Valley versus being elite against high level D1 competition

Duzz said Ford is going to be a great safety. Hes just not there yet. Lets hope he works hard and is patient as I do think hell be starting next year and possibly get more PT this year. Clearly Ford is not doing something the coaches expect because they used Pinnock and Mathis last year as true frosh.
Click to expand...
Duzz has said many things regarding Paris Ford over the last two years. He has yet to put his money where his mouth is!
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
Only the ones who understand football. Which, granted, excludes a whole lot of folks here.
Click to expand...

I don’t understand football, but I thought Avonte was good at Pitt. He was on the losing end of a lot of 50/50 balls, but he was usually all over the WR, except for two notable and highly unfortunate times when he fell down and gave up TDs (Okie St.; UNC).

He was easy to root for with his great attitude and effort.

Go Pitt.
 
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MajorMajors said:
I don’t understand football, but I thought Avonte was good at Pitt. He was on the losing end of a lot of 50/50 balls, but he was usually all over the WR, except for two notable and highly unfortunate times when he fell down and gave up TDs (Okie St.; UNC).

He was easy to root for with his great attitude and effort.

Go Pitt.
Click to expand...


I can still remember people here calling for him to be benched and even using the line that his backup "couldn't possibly be worse".
 
The Eagles still want him to be a slot corner, its just that their starting FS tore his ACL and their backup safety is a better SS (and got roasted in the one game they tried to play him at FS). Therefore, they have been playing a number of different packages defensively with Maddox playing the true FS role for now.
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
I can still remember people here calling for him to be benched and even using the line that his backup "couldn't possibly be worse".
Click to expand...
funny, I but cannot remember people here calling him a future NFL starter when he was getting torched by the likes of Oklahoma State et al as part of one of the worst college football secondaries in the nation either..."The Cowboys just lit up Pitt for 572 in the air, but damn, didn't Maddox look great"
 
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upj87 said:
funny, I but cannot remember people here calling him a future NFL starter when he was getting torched by the likes of Oklahoma State et al as part of one of the worst college football secondaries in the nation either..."The Cowboys just lit up Pitt for 572 in the air, but damn, didn't Maddox look great"
Click to expand...

The crazy thing from those years is that at least three DB's (Lewis, Maddox, and Pitts)
who were burned here, at Pitt are now playing in the NFL. Of course the "ones who
understand football" knew all along that this would happen.
 
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Chescat said:
The crazy thing from those years is that at least three DB's (Lewis, Maddox, and Pitts)
who were burned here, at Pitt are now playing in the NFL. Of course the "ones who
understand football" knew all along that this would happen.
Click to expand...

I also tells you a lot about the scheme and coaching not being very good.
 
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pittbb80 said:
Big difference between being elite against Valley versus being elite against high level D1 competition

Duzz said Ford is going to be a great safety. Hes just not there yet. Lets hope he works hard and is patient as I do think hell be starting next year and possibly get more PT this year. Clearly Ford is not doing something the coaches expect because they used Pinnock and Mathis last year as true frosh.
Click to expand...

Sometimes coaches play kids at CB to develop their technique and skills. Then they transition them to S. Whitehead was outstanding against the run, but probably would have benefited playing CB as a freshmen if they had anyone else to play safety. Ford maybe the starter next year, sometimes kids just have to have that "oh that's what i need to do" moment before they get rolling.
 
Avonte is one of the easier recent Pitt players to evaluate. Lateral quickness and toughness are excellent. Will make money for ten years as a slot corner if he doesn't get hurt.
 
Jakey_John said:
Yeah those are all very good questions. I’m not surprised he got a shot in the pros but I’m shocked he’s as good as he is.

In regards to being able to play safety, you’re right. Who would have thought it would play out that way?
Click to expand...
first he was Pitt's best CB 2 or 3 years. He was banged up a lot in one of them and it really hurt when he wasn't in there. Second I never for a second thought he was big enough to play safety in college let alone the NFL. Third I suspect he won't be a starter very long at safety, but with the game changing maybe thats what the future looks like with basically 1 CB playing safety.
 
upj87 said:
funny, I but cannot remember people here calling him a future NFL starter when he was getting torched by the likes of Oklahoma State et al as part of one of the worst college football secondaries in the nation either..."The Cowboys just lit up Pitt for 572 in the air, but damn, didn't Maddox look great"
Click to expand...


A starter, no, maybe not. But there were people here all along that were telling the people who have no idea what they are watching that Maddox was a good corner being put in tough positions. And there absolutely were people who said that he sucked and that his backups were certainly better than he was. They literally "could not be worse".
 
Chescat said:
The crazy thing from those years is that at least three DB's (Lewis, Maddox, and Pitts)
who were burned here, at Pitt are now playing in the NFL. Of course the "ones who
understand football" knew all along that this would happen.
Click to expand...


If you didn't think that all three of those guys had a chance to play in the NFL, well, we might know which category you fit into.
 
SoufOaklin4Life said:
The category that thinks perhaps our scheme isn’t good enough to leverage 3 nfl caliber db players - because we had a historically bad defense, even with that talent level?
Click to expand...


Well that too, but of course that isn't what I was referring to.

As I have said before, one sign of a bad coach is that he refuses to change his scheme to fit the talent he has on hand, because obviously his way is the one correct way to do things.
 
Joe the Panther Fan said:
If you didn't think that all three of those guys had a chance to play in the NFL, well, we might know which category you fit into.
Click to expand...

I figured you'd take the bait. "Category?" I tend not to put people
into categories. Go back and re read the thread. Basically it was
about people being surprised at Maddox suddenly becoming a starter
in his rookie year, and also about a few other Pitt DB's who are now in
the pros. Most on here seem to be surprised, but also pretty happy
about it. Thanks for letting us know who really "understands football"
and those who are "excluded" from this elite "category."
 
Joe the Panther Fan said:
If you didn't think that all three of those guys had a chance to play in the NFL, well, we might know which category you fit into.
Click to expand...

I was mildly surprised about Pitts, guy had obvious talent but his ball skills were so bad I wasn’t sure he’d get a shot to stick.

Not surprised by the other 2 at all, especially Maddox. His abilities to play at the next level were fairly obvious.
 
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I kinda agree, especially with Maddox...IMO great quickness, speed, and ability to cover. Plus he was a tough as nails defender, and seemingly a terrific team player.
The other two did surprise me, but only because of some of their troubles while
at Pitt. In retrospect, I feel that most of that was due to Narduzzi's scheme more
than anything else.
 
Last edited:
Chescat said:
Started yesterday for the Eagles at SAFETY. He played pretty well despite never having
played that position before. The Philadelphia Inquirer today gave him a "thumbs up"
(one of only a few players) for his performance.
What comes to mind is, how can this happen when Pitt had him identified as a corner?
Maddox played four years as a CB at Pitt, and now somehow becomes a starter at
Safety in the pros. IMO his, is one amazing story!

Not sure about Paris Ford, but many posters here think he should also be a safety. I'm
sure the Narduzzi lovers would say..."look how well Narduzzi prepares his DB's that
they can go into the pros and start as a rookie.:
The Narduzzi haters might instead say...." Narduzzi doesn't know the right position
for his DB's and is wasting Paris Ford."
Click to expand...

It is a huge compliment to Narduzzi and staff that a low 3 Star undersized Cb can come to Pitt looking so raw and bad and turn into our best cb and nfl starter.

Fantastic coaching to put him in this spot
 
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Chescat said:
I tend not to put people
into categories.
Click to expand...


I don't either. They put themselves there.

Just out of curiosity, were you one of the people that insisted that Maddox stunk and should have been benched? Because that would certainly explain why me saying those people didn't know what they were talking about bothers you so much.
 
Joe the Panther Fan said:
Well that too, but of course that isn't what I was referring to.

As I have said before, one sign of a bad coach is that he refuses to change his scheme to fit the talent he has on hand, because obviously his way is the one correct way to do things.
Click to expand...

What should be his base front and coverage?
 
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