Taking a look at a defensive line reclamation project
Towards the end of the regular season, the New York Jets claimed defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis off waivers from the Washington Commanders. He remains under contract for the 2025 season. Today, we look at Mathis in detail.
The 26-year old Mathis is listed at 6’4” and 312 pounds. He was a second round pick out of Alabama in 2022. Mathis has racked up 25 tackles in 23 NFL games in his career so far but has yet to start a game or register a sack.
Background
Mathis was a four-star recruit out of high school and headed to Alabama, where he had to wait for opportunities in a talented defensive line group.
After redshirting his first season in 2017, Mathis had 18 tackles in 15 games as a rotational backup in his redshirt freshman season and made his first two starts in 2019 as he ended up with 27 tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in 12 games.
His role increased again in the 2020 season, as he made six starts and had 31 tackles, five tackles for loss and three passes defensed. He also registered the first 1.5 sacks of his career.
Finally in 2021, he was a full-time starter and set career marks with 53 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and nine sacks. He was named second team all-ACC and as a second team all-American.
Heading into the pre-draft process, Mathis was banged up but still attended the scouting combine and was ultimately drafted by Washington in the middle of the second round.
Unfortunately, his rookie season was cut short when he suffered a season ending injury on his third snap of the year.
Injuries also derailed his second season as he was hurt in preseason and spent the first seven games on injured reserve. He finally got a chance to get into the rotation down the stretch and had eight tackles, a quarterback hit and a fumble recovery in a reserve role over the last 10 games.
He was finally healthy in the 2024 season but didn’t make as much of an impact as hoped off the bench. He had 17 tackles, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed in 12 games. He was a healthy scratch down the stretch and then waived ahead of the season finale.
The Jets were one of four teams to put in a claim for Mathis but he was inactive in the season finale. He has a year left on his rookie deal though, so he will be under contract for 2025.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Mathis brings to the table, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Mathis has good size and excellent length. However, he isn’t regarded as an elite athlete. At his combine workout, he didn’t run a 40-yard dash or three-cone drill and posted poor numbers for vertical jump and short shuttle. His broad jump was good for his size though.
While he displays good upper body strength on film, he was unable to do the bench press at the combine or his pro day as he was still bothered by a shoulder issue.
Usage
Mathis has primarily lined up in the B-gap both at Alabama and in Washington, although he has lined up as a nose tackle from time to time. It’s less common for him to line up outside, but he has done it, and he often takes snaps over the tackle as a five-technique.
Motor
Mathis is a player with a reputation for working hard in the trenches. At Alabama, Nick Saban said he had “a really really good motor” and that he “plays hard all the time”. Mathis will play to the whistle and pursue across the field.
With that said, he only had one year as a full-time starter in college and would at times seem to get worn down. He has never started an NFL game although he played over 30 snaps two times. In his final year at Alabama, he played 48 or more snaps four times.
Pass rush
Mathis racked up nine sacks in his senior year at Alabama, but this seems to have been an outlier as he had just 1.5 combined in his other three seasons and has none in NFL regular season or preseason action. His pressure rates are fairly low too.
A lot of the time, Mathis is just trying to shove his man upfield and collapse the pocket so he would generate a lot of his production by cleaning up if the quarterback was forced to step up.
His get-off is inconsistent and he doesn’t often dominate his blocker, but he shows flashes now and again of explosive disruptiveness.
Run defense
Mathis is known more for his run stopping. Although his grades on analytical sites have typically been poor, this is where he has delivered his best film.
A lot of Mathis’ production in the running game comes from being tough to move and bottling up runs. He takes on blocks well, including being able to hold up to double teams.
On this play he showcases his ability to move laterally but maintain his balance so he can dominate his blocker and throw down the runner on the edge.
He battles in the trenches but can be controlled at the point of attack at times, leading to him being moved off his spot and unable to disengage.
Technique
Mathis brings active feet and quick hands but doesn’t necessarily produce as much explosiveness or violence in his movements as you’d hope to see.
Nevertheless, he is capable of putting together a good pass rush move with good timing, even if he doesn’t get to show this very often while rushing on the interior.
He shows good technique in the trenches, penetrating and shedding the block to bottle up this short yardage run as he exploits his length with full extension.
When he’s battling in the trenches, Mathis ends up on the ground or goes down to one knee quite a lot, but he battles hard to stay upright so he can still help to bottle up runs in these situations.
Special teams
During his NFL career, Mathis’ only role on special teams has been rushing kicks and punts, although he did deflect a punt in his final game with the Commanders.
He also saw action as a blocker on the placekicking unit in college, where he had one special teams penalty for being offside on an extra point.
Tackling
Mathis has long arms so you would expect him to be an effective tackler in space but his film has several plays where he fails to finish despite getting into a position to make a play.
His missed tackle rates have never been high, but he isn’t a productive tackler, and a lot of his production comes from getting credit for bottling things up.
Coverage
Mathis isn’t a player that will drop into coverage, although he will try to hustle back into the play on short passes.
He has a knack for getting his hands up to deflect passes with five pass deflections in his last two years in college and one at the NFL level.
He also batted down three passes in a preseason game once, although one was negated by a penalty.
Instincts/Intelligence
The book on Mathis coming out of college was that he can be slow to process at times or get preoccupied with his assignment so it affects his play recognition and vision. He would also, at times, shed the block too early, giving ball carriers more of a chance to redirect.
There are recent examples of him keeping his eyes up when engaged with a blocker and timing the shed of his block effectively, so this seems to be an area where he has improved.
One negative is that he is sometimes caught unaware by down blocks, so he needs to improve his anticipation in certain situations.
Attitude/Demeanor
Mathis displayed good patience at Alabama and was named as a team captain in 2021 as he led by example with his work ethic.
It was a tough road back from the injuries during his first two seasons at the pro level and Mathis admitted that he was depressed during this time.
He was voted to the SEC community service team in 2021 in recognition of his off-field work in the community.
His on-field discipline has generally been good with just five penalties in his college career and one (a neutral zone infraction) in the NFL.
Injuries
Mathis played in 54 games over four years at Alabama but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have some injury issues. He had a minor lower leg injury in 2019, leg and back injuries in 2020 and was banged up throughout the 2021 season with hamstring and shoulder issues, as well as dealing with a bulging disc in his back.
In his NFL debut, his rookie season came to a premature end when he tore his meniscus and then a calf injury the following preseason forced him onto injured reserve until week 8.
However, he did then play 22 games in a row before being a healthy scratch down the stretch in 2024.
Scheme Fit
At the NFL level, Mathis has played under Ron Rivera, who has operated both 3-4 and 4-3 schemes and opted to mostly run 4-3 with the Commanders, and Dan Quinn, who usually runs a 4-3 but opted to run some 3-4 looks with them, so he’s been well versed in both.
Neither of these coaches’ systems require much two-gapping from the interior linemen, but it is something Mathis is capable of doing if required. His run stopping ability potentially adds something to the Jets rotation for 2025 that they don’t have much of.
At the NFL level, Mathis has been a teammate of 2024 Jets Zack Bailey, Wes Schweitzer and Jamin Davis, although the latter two are out of contract. He was also a teammate of Quinnen Williams at Alabama.
Conclusions
26 is too young to give up on a player with day two talent even if they have underwhelmed in their career so far, so it’s worth taking the chance to bring aboard a player like Mathis if you can get him cheaply. Clearly a few other teams agreed as there were multiple franchises that attempted to claim him.
It’s been a frustrating few years for Mathis, who likely expected to be starting by now. However, injuries wrecked his first two seasons and then Johnny Newton was drafted in the second round to further improve a rotation that already includes two former first round picks, so he was always likely to be at the back end of the rotation in 2024.
Mathis hasn’t had good production in his career so far and, right now, is probably just viewed by the Jets as someone who could be an effective run stopper on the second unit. Maybe he has some untapped potential that could see him raise his game with regular playing time, but even if he doesn’t, it’s a low-cost, low-risk move that could give them a cheap contributor to improve their defensive depth next season as he’ll be motivated entering his contract year.