Film Room Examining What Rookie CB Damarri Mathis

With pa sing offenses exploding acro s the NFL landscape, the need for teams to have several quality starters that can cover has risen dramatically. If a team doesn't have at least a handful of cornerbacks that can step on the field and play at a high level, it needs to addre s that as soon as po sible. Denver Broncos GM George Paton knows this le son all too well, saying that it was more difficult to find a franchise than a quarterback of that caliber after selecting Patrick Surtain II over Justin Fields or Mac Jones with the No. 9 overall selection in the 2021 NFL draft. Not only did Paton make Surtain his first-ever draft selection, but he also went out and signed Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller to add depth to a room that was in dire straights at the time. Paton stuck to his guns in 2022, signing slot cornerback KWaun Williams in free agency and drafting Damarri Mathis out of Pittsburgh in the fourth round. Mathis, a highly productive boundary cornerback as a Panther, has great physical tools to work with and some versatility to slide inside to play in the slot, something that increases his value to the Broncos' secondary. Mathis has just about every measurable that you could ask for from a cornerback, measuring in at 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds with 77--inch arms and a blazing 4.39-second 40-yard dash time. With 16 pa s breakups, four interceptions (one touchdown) Marquise Brown Jersey , and 66 total tackles over his past two seasons as a primary starter, he also measures up well in terms of production. I went back over his game tape against Clemson, North Carolina, Western Michigan, and Wake Forest to try to see what makes this athletic specimen tick. Lets have a look at Mathis.The Pittsburgh defensive scheme under head coach Pat Narduzzi is widely hailed as one of the best schemes to draft out of because it is incredibly similar to what most NFL teams are trying to do. With many different looks, including split-field safeties, rotational coverages, and a combination of man and zone looks that keep quarterbacks gue sing, this scheme is incredibly close to what the Broncos ran under former head coach Vic Fangio.The Broncos' new scheme under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero figures to be similar to what Fangio ran, making Mathis a great fit moving forward. Here against Clemson, the Panthers are in what appears to Tyus Bowser Jersey be Cover 2-man with Mathis lined up at the top of the screen. Knowing that he has safety help over the top, Mathis forces his receiver to the sideline, limiting the area for the quarterback to deliver the ball. This is textbook coverage, and it pays off with one hell of an interception down the sideline. Mathis practically runs the route for the receiver, keeps his inside leverage, and hand fights his way down the field to perfection. While sticky hands may draw flags at the NFL level, you couldnt ask for better coverage here as Mathis not only forces to the sideline but also keeps his head up looking for the football.Mathis rides the receiver with his arms, gets away with a little bit of a shove off, and takes the ball the other way. Very well done on this rep.When watching Mathis, one of the first things I noticed when it comes to his play style is that he operates with a sense of reckle sne s and disregard for human health. This kid likes to hit. A lot. There are some severe i sues with his tackling form from the games I watched due to a lack of bringing his arms with him and wrapping up, but that is easily coachable at practically any level. Having the mentality to go deliver big hits frequently isnt, and Mathis has that in spades. Just check this hit out in his game against Western Michigan. This is one of many examples of him absolutely punishing a receiver or running back in the open field. Not only does Mathis deliver a ma sive hit on the tight end running the Shane Ray Jersey out route, but he also plays his responsibility in Cover-2 perfectly. His technique could use a little bit of refinement here, but he pa ses off his receiver to the next level to fill his zone and comes crashing vertically with reckle s abandonment. His target is a little bit high here, but the receiver having to go to full extension works out as Mathis doesnt make contact with the head and neck area. What is the most impre sive here is the noticeable size difference between the tight end and Mathis, yet Mathis flattens him with ease. While I would like to see him lower that target area and bring his hands through the tackle, the fact that he gets this guy on the ground easily shows his power driving through his legs as a tackler. In nearly every game I watched (and even some of the highlight tapes), you can see that Mathis is a little bit stiff at times playing in pre s coverage. Players with a quality release off of the line of scrimmage can get Mathis turned around relatively easily. He also tends to bite on the double move as he tries to attack the football, which can get him burned occasionally. I chose to highlight this play against North Carolina because you see exactly what Im talking about coming right off of the line of scrimmage. Mathis gets turned around twice on this play, and despite his recovery to get back into phase with the receiver, this could have been a devastating play for the Matt Skura Jersey Panthers' defense.Scroll to ContinueThis was the second play of this particular game in which Mathis was exploited on the release at the snap, with the first resulting in a deep touchdown. He lost his balance and fell over, so Ill give him the benefit of the doubt that he may have been able to recover on that play if he had remained on his feet. Regardle s, those hips could be a problem Ronnie Stanley Jersey at the next level as receivers get increasingly creative with their releases and route stems in todays pa sing game. Mathis has incredible burst ability to recover to the receiver and drive on the football despite his sticky hips. With his athleticism, length, and overall physicality, there are multiple ways and techniques you can employ Mathis at the next level. In this clip against North Carolina, Mathis plays the bail and trail technique of Cover-3 to perfection, coming away with a key pa s breakup to keep the Tar Heels out of the red area. Mathis gets away with showing his coverage pre-snap with a great recovery on the back end of the play. He opens his hips up too early, showing the QB that he is playing with outside leverage and that the slant route would be open over the middle of the field. Regardle s, knowing that he had help coming from the safety dropping down was a key in how Mathis operated on this rep. He bails off the line of scrimmage, sees the route breaking back to the inside, and flattens underneath the receiver. He uses great technique with his back inside hand to reach through the receiver and knock the ball away without wrapping his backside hand around the hip and turning the receiver prematurely. Great technique all the way around. When watching our last clip of the breakdown, I want you t