The second round selection of Max Melton on Friday night in the NFL draft was fitting for the former Rutgers defensive back. And from the perspective of [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag], his head coach at Rutgers, it is the start of what could and should be a long career in the NFL.
Melton was among the first players to commit to Rutgers after the hiring of Schiano in late 2019. A three-star recruit at the time, Melton was ranked the No. 22 player in New Jersey by 247Sports.
Now after four years at Rutgers, Melton last week was taken as the No. 43 overall selection in the NFL draft.
Melton, who had committed to Purdue that summer, de-committed from the Boilermakers and committed to Rutgers all on the same December day. It was a show of trust from Melton in Schiano’s ability to develop him for the next level.
And given that Schiano has quite the reputation of developing defensive backs (Duron Harmon, Devon McCourty, Jason McCourty and Logan Ryan to name a few), it was trust from Melton that was well placed.
“I was really happy for Max. You know, he worked so hard to achieve that,” Schiano said on Tuesday during an interview with Anthony Herron of the Big Ten Network.
“He (is) a really a talented guy, but you know, one that maybe flew under the radar a little bit coming out of high school and that goes to show you with all the rankings and all those things. Max was the 43rd best player in the country according to the NFL draft.
“So very, very exciting. He’ll do a great job. He’ll play in that league a long time.”
Herron praised Schiano for the “mentality you’ve infused in that team” which he believes led to Melton’s development.
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Over the span of his four seasons at Rutgers, Melton totalled 113 total tackles, eight interceptions, 20 pass breakups, one forced fumble, and four fumble recoveries across 43 games.