Man Coverage: Physical in man, always starts off with a 1 hand jam and will ride the WR throughout the stem if you let him. Will allow some separation at the top of routes, mostly on in breakers and comebacks.
Zone Coverage: Rarely asked to play zone. Played in a man heavy coverage defense. Small sample size of Cover 3 with press bail technique looked solid. Ultimately a trait is still to be determined.
Reaction/Recovery: Shows good recovery speed when out of phase and attacks the receiver during and after the catch. Acceleration will cover up some wasted steps.
Long speed: Carries vertical routes well. Shows second gear to run with any deep route.
Ball skills: Solid ball skills. Can locate the ball in the air while in phase. Balls that he can’t intercept he constantly swipes and rips at the catch point.
Run Support: Comes up to play the force defender on screens and sweeps to his side. Will get blocked but won’t stay blocked.
COD Ability: Not the most fluid when forced to defend laterally. Start/stop ability can be a bit slow transitioning, which leads to late separation.
Awareness: Quick to diagnose run. Has ability to direct traffic for teammates pre snap. Shows ability to track ball in the air.
Tackling: Looks to deliver a blow. Strong and aggressive tackler. Will throw a shoulder when he can and will wrap up.
Physicality/Toughness: One of the tougher DBs in his class. Looks to physically make his presence felt.
Summary: Damarri Mathis is a physical presence with speed to carry vertical routes. He’ll knock your block off if given the chance. Mathis is best suited for heavy man coverage schemes that allow him to be physical at the line of scrimmage and disrupt route timing.
Filed By: E.J Holt ACC Area Scout for Blue Chip Scouting
Twitter: @EJHolt_Draft