Max Melton scouting report: Exploring the Rutgers CB's strengths and weaknesses

A top-1000 overall recruit in 2020 and the brother of Seahawks wide receiver Bo Melton, Max Melton played in all nine and started six games as a true freshman. He’s been a fixture in the lineup since then, logging 22 starts, five passes intercepted, 15 broken up and a fumble forced in each year.

Details: 5-foot-11, 190 pounds; JR.

Breaking down Max Melton's scouting report

Max Melton #DB26 of Rutgers participates in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Combine

Strengths

Man-coverage

• Max Melton is twitchy but patient at the line with the 32-inch arms to widen the stem of the guy across from him.
• You see Melton being able to stay square and not get his hips flipped prematurely as receivers try to set him up with early manipulation elements of the route.
• Very feisty player, who can swallow bigger bodies attacking his chest early in the route.
• Worked on his ability to disrupt receivers significantly off the snap in press alignment and was moved into the slot for certain matchups in 2023, such as against Michigan’s Roman Wilson (no catches on around 15 coverage reps vs. him).
• Displays great football IQ to realize any tells of receivers when drifting during the stem.
• Is able to apply pressure to the top shoulder and make it tough for receivers to gain separation as they’re trying to get across the field and his hand stays on there.
• Has the explosiveness to quickly shoot the gap and rarely allows receivers to gain a step on him on drag routes.
• Those traits were backed by the combine testing, where he logged a 40.5-inch vert (fourth-best among corners), 11’4” broad jump (tops for the position) and a 4.39 in the 40, to go with an excellent positional workout.

Zone-coverage

• Max Melton is disciplined with staying at his landmarks in zone coverage.
• Adjusts his positioning in accordance with the pattern (on his side) and the route distribution.
• Showcases alert eyes for routes coming across the field towards him and when he needs to squeeze in to disrupt the catch-point.
• Melton’s click-and-close from off-coverage is eye-popping and you see him dislodge the ball on quick in-breaking routes in impressive fashion a few times.
• Quick to race up against completions in the flats and put guys on the ground.
• His awareness of where the sticks are is a definite plus, to deny first downs even if the pass is completed.
• Excels at reading the receiver’s eyes and hands after having to turn and run with them, to be able to rake through the catch-point for incompletions.
• Put up a career-best 73.7 PFF coverage grade last season, holding opposing QBs to 24-of-44 for 252 yards and three TDs vs. three INTs.

Run defense & tackling

• Max Melton works upfield vs. the run under good control and is quick to redirect in case the quarterback pulls the ball for a leak route or another alert toward him.
• Proactively uses his hands by punching off and slide past receivers trying to wall him off.
• Doesn’t mind getting into those condensed spaces when the point of attack in the run game is near him and bigger bodies are approaching.
• Realizes fairly quickly when receivers just try to run him off away from the action and swipes them aside, to pursue the ball.
• Comes downhill without any fear of contact when screens are thrown to his side.
• Provides tremendous speed to run down plays at the opposite numbers occasionally – did so for a tackle inside their own 10-yard line on what looked like a breakaway run from Ohio State’s explosive RB TreyVeon Henderson last year.

Weaknesses

• Max Melton has to be firm at the point of contact when he doesn’t put his hands on receivers out of their stance, too easily allowing them to access the middle of the field, in particular on goal-line slants.
• Looks kind of lost when receivers are able to work across his body deeper down the field and get him turned around.
• Tends to get caught by and get grabby on double-moves in isolated situations – was penalized five times last season.
• Not always super disciplined with contain responsibilities, trying to shoot inside of blockers or getting his eyes lost in their frame, as they’re tangled up with each other.
• Throws his body at bigger ball-carriers and tries to drag them down as a tackler, rather than actually wrapping and driving ever – missed a massive 12 of 45 tackling attempts last season (26.7%).

Max Melton's 2024 NFL Draft projection

Rutgers has become sort of an “off-brand” factory for defensive backs, where you can often acquire quality players in the later rounds of the draft – Logan Ryan, Duron and even last year in UDFA-turned-starter for the Bucs in Christian Izien.

Thankfully, Melton was able to put up the ball production to receive the attention he deserves earlier and then he literally exploded at the combine, when you look at the way he leaped off the ground.

His two main issues are lapses of discipline with contain assignments and biting on double-moves, along with the massive tackle numbers last season. With that being said, while he absolutely has to work on staying on his feet in that regard, he had one fewer missed tackle in the prior three years combined (11 on 95 attempts).

So I’m willing to give Max Melton some leeway here, considering the exceptional coverage skills he displays to excel in a variety of schemes, where he has to play up or back on receivers, rapidly erasing any initial separation they feel like they can create against him. He should be a lock for the top 50.

Max Melton Grade: Top 50

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