The Detroit Lions are not joking around when it comes to the secondary. The signed D.J. Reed to start off the party and they got the very good cornerback on a steal. Then they added former second-round pick Rock Ya-Sin on Thursday and now they’re adding Detroit native and former fourth-round pick Avonte Maddox to the mix.
Maddox graduated from Martin Luther King High School in Detroit before heading to play his college ball at Pitt. He was taken by the Eagles in the 2018 NFL Draft and he’s been there ever since. He helped them win the Super Bowl in February.
Here’s where things get interesting for the Maddox and the Lions. He may not be coming to Detroit to play cornerback. He might actually be coming home to play safety. While in Philadelphia, the Eagles had Maddox play linebacker, free safety, and strong safety as well as playing corner.
This season the Eagles used him at safety in eight of the 18 games he played. That includes the Super Bowl, where he got a big pass breakup in that position.
The Lions have strong starters at safety with Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch, but after losing Ifeatu Melifonwu, they need safety depth. Maddox is that guy.
What also helps is that Maddox is a strong pass rusher much like Melionwu was for Detroit. Don’t expect monster sack numbers from him, but he is strong in that role. He’s also a very good tackler. Safety just makes so much sense for him in Detroit.
He’ll be able to help the younger guys Morice Norris and Loren Strickland get up to snuff and they’ll likely both be around in 2025 since the Lions seem to like the versatility that Norris brings and the special teams hitting that Strickland brings.