Adrian Fedkiw
The Philadelphia Eagles made a pair of selections in a five-pick span near the end of the fourth round and used them on Pittsburgh cornerback Avonte Maddox and Florida State defensive end Josh Sweat.
Maddox, the 125th overall pick, will be in the mix to take over for Patrick Robinson at the nickel cornerback position. The 5’9, 185-pounder tested really well in Indianapolis at the Scouting Combine, running a blazing 4.39 40-yard dash and ranking in the 97th percentile of the 3-cone drill, 99th percentile of the 60-yard shuttle and 83rd percentile of the 20-yard shuttle. These are good indicators of a potential transition for a slot cornerback.
Maddox’s technique is a bit raw and may not play right away, but the upside is certainly there and he’s not afraid to get physical and make tackles. Here was my live reaction of the pick.
Sweat is an edge player who fell in the draft due to his shoddy knees, but the Eagles obviously utilize a heavy rotation with their defensive linemen and that could prolong his career. And due to that depth along the defensive line, I wonder if the Birds would potentially experiment playing him at outside linebacker.
Sweat is 6’5 to go with 34 5/8 inch arms, that’s a lot of length. His seven sacks in 2017 all came in the final eight weeks of the season. He uses that length as an edge setter in the run game, showing an ability to disengage from lineman and wrap up ball carriers.
Here was my reaction of the Sweat selection.
Philadelphia is slated to pick next in the sixth round, which is the 206th overall selection.
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