Film Room: Examining What Rookie CB Damarri Mathis can Bring to Broncos' Defense in 2022
With passing offenses exploding across 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 address that as soon as possible.
Denver Broncos GM George Paton knows this lesson all too well, saying that it was more difficult to find a franchise cornerback 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 K’Waun 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 77-½-inch arms and a blazing 4.39-second 40-yard dash time. With 16 pass breakups, four interceptions (one touchdown), 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. Let’s have a look at Mathis.
Play 1: Sideline is Your Friend
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 guessing, 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 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 couldn’t 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.
Play 2: This Dude is Physical
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 recklessness and disregard for human health. This kid likes to hit. A lot.
There are some severe issues 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 isn’t, 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 massive hit on the tight end running the out route, but he also plays his responsibility in Cover-2 perfectly. His technique could use a little bit of refinement here, but he passes off his receiver to the next level to fill his zone and comes crashing vertically with reckless abandonment. His target is a little bit high here, but the receiver having to go to full extension works out as Mathis doesn’t make contact with the head and neck area.
What is the most impressive 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.
Play 3: Loosen up Those Hips
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 press 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 I’m 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 Panthers' defense.
This 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 I’ll 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. Regardless, those hips could be a problem at the next level as receivers get increasingly creative with their releases and route stems in today’s passing game.
Play 4: Driving on the Football
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 pass 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.
Regardless, 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.
Play 5: More Physicality
When watching our last clip of the breakdown, I want you to appreciate just how physical Mathis gets in support on the boundary to make this tackle and stop what could have been a huge gain for the Tar Heels. Again playing bail technique, Mathis sees the screen developing in front of him and goes to work on the receiver in front of him.
Watch how far Mathis drives him backward before shucking him off and getting the ball carrier down on a great ankle tackle. He understands that he is one of the last lines of defense, attacks the blocker's outside shoulder to force the ball carrier back to the inside, then throws the blocker aside like a rag doll to make the play in open space.
You have to appreciate that kind of technical ability, understanding the leverage of the blocker and dictating the direction of the play back to the strength of the defense. Let alone make a nice tackle to end the rep.
What we Learned
Football is a physical game, and Mathis thrives when the chips are on the table, and it’s time to get nasty. I saw some reps where he would pass it off and stay out of the play, but most of those were due to him seeing other defenders already initiating contact with the ball carrier. That’s smart football, not a knock against his mentality.
Regarding his coverage ability, Mathis has the technique and understanding of the route development to work in a multitude of coverages. However, I believe his best fit would be on the boundary lined up off of the ball rather than on the line of scrimmage in press coverage.
The stiffness of his hips and change-of-direction ability after the snap is rough enough that I believe he can be exploited at the next level by some shiftier route runners that utilize quick breaks and tricky releases off of the snap.
Utilizing his recognition and reaction ability to his advantage, as well as his recovering ability and speed as an off-zone cornerback would be the best way to deploy Mathis.
In terms of his early impact on the Broncos' roster this season, a lot of Mathis' work will probably come via the special teams unit as a gunner on kick and punt returns. He has the requisite athleticism and physical demeanor to his game to be a high-quality player in the third phase of the game.
While I like a lot of his technical ability and the burst he has in recovering to the receiver, there are too many questions about his change of direction ability for me to see him have a large impact defensively, especially with the ongoing development of Michael Ojemudia as the team’s fourth cornerback.
With Surtain, Darby, Williams, and Michael Ojemudia likely to see the majority of the work defensively and the possibility of Kareem Jackson lining up as a slot defender, Mathis has his work cut out for him to see the field this season.
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