Avonte Maddox named the Eagles most improved player in 2021

Well, this just confirms what Philadelphia Eagles fans have known for quite some time. That Avonte Maddox guy is pretty good, and it’s nice to see him get some burn, courtesy of the stat gurus over at Pro Football Focus.

They recently cooked up a list of every NFL team’s most improved player during the 2021-2022 regular season, and the man who put pen to paper on a three-year pay raise worth $22.5 million took that honor home fr the Birds.

Here’s some of what Anthony Treash, the writer of this one, had to say on the subject.

"Maddox was moved exclusively to outside corner for 2020, and it went poorly, as evidenced by his 37.8 PFF grade. In 2021, Maddox moved to the slot where he belongs and saw a drastic improvement. He actually finished the year as a top-five-graded defensive back in the slot. Maddox’s tackling was on point, with just five misses on 77 attempts and 24 defensive stops."

We’ll take it! It only gets better for Maddox from here on out as he continues to mature nicely as one of Philadelphia’s bright young stars in the midnight green. The question is this. What does he do for an encore?

Expect Avonte Maddox to continue a breakout season he began last year in 2022.

As Treash mentioned, that 37.8 overall grade that Avonte Maddox earned in 2020, indeed, improved exponentially throughout the first 18-week, 17-game in Eagles history. How about a mark of 71 to conclude Philly’s most recent campaign?

Say what you want about Jonathan Gannon. He took a lot of shots in 2021. Many of them he deserved, but several of the Eagles’ young stars on the defense took a major step forward in his scheme, especially in the defensive secondary.

Darius Slay earned a Pro Bowl nod, the fourth of his career. Marcus Epps showed promise as a key part of a safety rotation that included Rodney McLeod and Anthony Harris. He’ll take another step forward as he gains more playing time, a real possibility if the Birds don’t retain McLeod and Harris in free agency.

All of that was to be expected though. After all, Gannon is a former defensive backs coach, but, the Birds learned a thing or two about some of their budding stars along the defensive line and at the second level as well.

Davion Taylor improved a lot before his injury. T.J. Edwards looks like a star in the making. All of that and the continued improvement of Josh Sweat and Javon Hargrave, both of whom earned Pro Bowl nods, makes Maddox’s job easier.

Typically, when NFL franchises grab a guy in the fourth round, they aren’t banking on that guy being a part of the franchise for seven seasons or more. Teams are just hoping to get lucky on Day 3 of the draft, but the Eagles have found something special in Maddox.

Expect him to continue to improve as we enter his fifth season in the NFL. He doesn’t have to worry about his money or where he’ll be playing, and folks, take our word on this. That’s good news, and it takes the pressure off of a young man trying to carve out his niche at pro football’s highest level.