Philadelphia Eagles versus Cincinnati: 2 Reasons to start Trevor Williams

2. The Philadelphia Eagles can’t afford to take their chances with Avonte Maddox this week.

Maddox is better suited to be a slot corner or safety long term at his size. He plays with a lot of passion and is a hard worker, but he’s just not an outside corner. Trevor Williams needs to start this week instead. He’s got a few inches on Maddox at five-foot-eleven, and he used to be a reliable starter in the past.

After coming in as an undrafted free agent and getting a shot as a result of injuries, Williams stepped up to the task during his time with the Chargers. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 79.1 in 2017. He started 15 of 16 games that year and allowed just a 50 percent completion percentage when targeted while collecting two interceptions and 13 pass breakups. In 2018, he was off to a solid start with one interception and four passes defended in seven starts, which never measured up to his 2017 season but was still respectable.

A knee injury ended his season and led to his eventual release the next season. Then, the Arizona Cardinals picked him up for two games, and he only played 16 snaps on special teams in that span. It’s hard to predict whether he can perform at the same level that he did from 2017-2018 but putting Avonte Maddox on the outside in this matchup is a death wish.

Even if the Eagles go with zone coverage a decent amount of the time, almost all of the Bengals receivers have an advantage, and Cincinnati will probably attack his zone. The Eagles might as well see what they have in Trevor Williams and give him one last shot to prove that he can still compete.