NFL Draft Profile: Damarri Mathis, Cornerback, Pittsburgh Panthers

NFL draft profile scouting report for Pittsburgh Cornerback, Damarri Mathis

Author:
The NFL Draft Bible
Updated:
Mar 8, 2022 3:53 PM EST
Original:
Jan 17, 2022

In this story:

#21
Pos: CB
Ht: 5105
Wt: 196
Hand: 0828
Arm: 3178
Wing: 7700
40: 4.39
DOB:
Eligibility: 2022
Lakeland, FL
Lakeland High School

Damarri Mathis Pittsburgh Panthers

One-Liner:

Feisty cornerback with below average size and average athleticism.

Pros:

Outside cornerback who frequently plays bail technique and press coverage in a cover four heavy secondary. Mathis is technically sound in man coverage, taking few false steps. He uses the sideline to redirect receivers towards it and create small windows. His hip fluidity is above average. At the catch point, he makes an effort to play the football. A vocal pre-snap communicator, Mathis gets his teammates lined up. He rallies to the ball with quick recognition skills. In the run game, Mathis is feisty and battles to gain outside leverage even when he has a size disadvantage.

Cons:

Possessing below average size and average athleticism makes Mathis a mismatch against receivers that bring size or speed. He lacks suddenness and twitch and gets beat on vertical routes where he has a tendency to get grabby. Despite landing his hands, Mathis is unable to impact receivers consistently in press coverage due to poor strength. When he misses at the line, he is unable to recover. Occasional mental lapses lead to blown coverages. Mathis is a poor tackler who comes in with his shoulder and fails to wrap up.

Summary:

Below average sized cornerback with average athleticism who plays with a feisty attitude. Mathis is technically sound and displays quick recognition skills. He lacks athleticism to cover receivers with size or speed and tackles poorly. Mathis projects as a nickel cornerback who could start out on a practice squad depending on depth at the position and special teams impact. Because of his athletic limitations, he will be a replacement level player at best.

Background:

Damarri Mathis was a three-year starter at cornerback for Lakeland and compiled 73 tackles, 27 pass breakups and five interceptions for his varsity career. He was an all-district and all-county honoree and helped the team to an 8-3 record and the Florida Class 7A playoffs as a senior. In his three seasons as a starter, he helped Lakeland to a 28-7 mark (.800) with Florida Class 7A playoff berths each season and was rated one of the nation’s top 40 cornerback prospects by Rivals. He played under Coach Bill Castle.

Upon attending Pitt in 2017, Mathis played in nine games, serving on special teams and as a reserve cornerback to letter as a true freshman. He totaled two tackles on the season, logging solo stops against Youngstown State and Oklahoma State and had a pass breakup against Virginia. In 2018, Mathis played in all 14 games at cornerback, making two starts (Albany and Syracuse) and totaled 18 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, one interception and one pass breakup. His first career interception was a leaping grab in the end zone against Albany and had a career-high four tackles in the Syracuse and Virginia Tech games. He had three stops and a six-yard TFL against Penn State. In 2019, he played in all 13 games, starting 10 at corner. Mathis totaled 23 tackles, two TFLs, 11 pass breakups and two interceptions on the season and finished second (tied) on the team in PBUs. He was a four-time honoree on the Pro Football Focus ACC Team of the Week (Delaware, Duke, Georgia Tech and North Carolina) and posted interceptions against Miami and North Carolina. He had a season-high three tackles in four different contests (Ohio, UCF, North Carolina and the Quick Lane Bowl against Eastern Michigan). He did not play in 2020 due to a preseason injury and returned in 2021 for his Senior season.