Avonte Maddox shows off speed at NFL combine

Defensive backs took the field on Monday to cap off the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, and Pitt product Avonte Maddox was in attendance to put his athleticism on display. To say the least, he made the most of his time at the showcase, running the 40-yard dash in just 4.39 seconds and posting a combine-best 10.72-second 60-yard shuttle.

Maddox’s 40 time ranked seventh at his position, falling just seven hundredths of a second short of the top time. It was also the 12th-fastest time recorded at the 2018 combine.

However, Maddox’s signature performance came in the 60-yard shuttle, as he not only posted the best time at the 2018 combine, but came just one hundredth of a second short of the unofficial record for the drill, which was set by wide receiver Shelton Gibson in 2017. Among defensive backs, Maddox’s time was the best posted at the event since at least 2006.

The former Pitt cornerback also put on a solid showing in his position-specific drills, and his performance caught the eye of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock during the television broadcast of the combine.

“I don’t know who that kid is, but when he puts that foot in the dirt, he gets out of there,” Sanders said as Maddox finished his “W” drill.

”That’s Avonte Maddox of Pitt, who’s got some of the quickest feet in this draft,” Mayock noted.

All told, Maddox finished among the top 10 performers at his position in six of the combine’s seven primary drills.

Aside from his first-place finish in the 60-yard shuttle and his seventh-place 40-yard dash, Maddox also came in second among defensive backs in the three-cone drill, finishing in 6.51 seconds; fourth in the 20-yard shuttle, finishing in 4.00 seconds; seventh in the broad jump, leaping 10 feet and five inches; and eighth in the vertical jump, with a 37-inch hop.

While Maddox came into the combine as a relatively unheralded prospect, his impressive showing in Indianapolis will no doubt pique the interest of teams around the NFL and go a long way toward improving his standing as the draft approaches.