2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Phidarian Mathis

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NAME: Phidarian Mathis

POSITION: Defensive Tackle

SCHOOL: Alabama

HEIGHT: 6’4”

WEIGHT: 310 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

A native of Wisner, Louisiana, Phidarian Mathis attended Neville High School. As a senior in 2016, he recorded 41 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, seven sacks and six quarterback hurries. Mathis earned many accolades following that campaign. For example, he was named to Louisiana All-District 2-4A, Louisiana Class 4A first-team All-State and USA Today Louisiana All-State. He also appeared in the Under Armour All-America Game.

247Sports rated him as a four-star recruit. Furthermore, they ranked Mathis as the seventh best defensive tackle prospect, the fourth best player to come out of the state of Louisiana and as the 99th best player overall in his class. He was recruited by many schools. Namely, Arizona State, Florida, Georgia, LSU, TCU and others were heavily after Mathis. He chose to go to Alabama, however.

Secondary Piece

As a true freshman in 2017, Mathis sat out the entire season and took a redshirt. He rotated in as a secondary piece on the Alabama defensive line in 2018. Across 15 games played, Mathis tallied 18 tackles and a fumble recovery. That allowed him to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors. Afterwards, Mathis played in 12 games and made two starts in 2019. He registered 27 tackles, two quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and 0.5 tackle for loss.

Standout Defender

2020 was a breakout season for Mathis as he received more playing time. In all, he would finish with 31 tackles, five tackles for loss, three quarterback pressures, three pass breakups, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble. More importantly, Mathis and the Crimson Tide were able to win the National Championship against Ohio State in the postseason after the 2020 regular season.

The 2021 season was met with more personal highs and new opportunities for Mathis. He set new single season career highs in tackles (53), tackles for loss (12), sacks (nine), quarterback pressures (six) and fumble recoveries (two). Mathis also added two pass breakups and one forced fumble. In the end, he earned second team All-SEC honors and AFCA second team All-American honors. Mathis also became a captain for Alabama in 2021.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

Functional Strength

There are a few different ways in which Mathis is able to physically wear down opposing offensive linemen. To start, he is rather stiff with his punches and long-arm moves. Opponents can become stunned in their tracks, as a result. He can also control gaps. When Mathis takes on double teams, the defensive lineman visibly adjusts his anchor and stiffens his lower half at the point of attack. He also has heavy hands. With this, Mathis can throw opponent’s hands off of his chest quickly and possibly throw them off-balance as well.

Run Defending

Do not get Mathis’ play style twisted. He is not subject to only run defending and can provide pass rush upside from the interior. Nevertheless, his run defending technique is rather refined at this stage of his career. Mathis can beat a lot of offensive linemen with the aforementioned strength at the point of attack. Moreover, he is comfortable and confident in being able to shed and stack blocks, if need be. He has swift, active hands that keep rolling. Mathis also understands how to cross the opponent’s face and get lateral in short areas.

Football IQ

The way in which Mathis deciphers through traffic upfront allows him to make stops in multiple areas on the field. Thus, he is also serviceable and productive from multiple positions along the defensive line. He can play over the center, from the 3-technique and even widened out to the 5-technique. It is also not impossible to think that Mathis would be able to thrive from an attacking role. On top of that, his ability to read blocks and play direction is sufficient. It allows him to redirect and shift to make plays in space or behind the line of scrimmage. Finally, Mathis is willing to handle roles that force him to work in dirty areas. Teammates can help clean up in space, because of that.

Hand Counters

Despite his dense frame and heavy hands, Mathis can be quite smooth with his pass rush hand counters. He uses a fiery swim move to get around blockers urgently. Elsewhere, Mathis is extremely firm with his chop and rip move. He resets his hands immediately when necessary. Mathis also has a swipe move that can frustrate opponents. Mainly, he is able to keep his chest clean and can slip off of blocks quite simply.

Lateral Mobility

He is not elite when it comes to speed. However, Mathis can cover ground very quickly when moving vertically. There is also impressive change of direction skills that this defender has displayed in space. He was asked to run many stunts and twists within the Alabama defense. During those reps, Mathis added a rare combination of powerful and smooth footwork. This simply overwhelmed offensive linemen and forced them to readjust or reset during their pass sets. Lastly, Mathis has a hot motor and can cut off angles when roaming sideline-to-sideline.

First Step Explosiveness

Similar to his lateral mobility, Mathis is rather stunning with his ability to explode around blockers at his size. He may not have the most lethal or most consistent first step off of the snap. However, Mathis can gain advantageous leverage and blowback opposing blockers. He then finds a faster gear, once he is able to recognize play flow. The Alabama product will also impress with his ability to make stops while on backside pursuit or when moving laterally. Overall, Mathis can provide that explosiveness throughout the entire game, so long as he is staying fresh and being used correctly.

Versatility

As mentioned above, Mathis has been able to produce from multiple positions across the defensive line. He may be able to do that at the NFL level as well. But, Mathis may have to improve in areas like pad level or get off of the snap to secure that status professionally. He will not be limited to being a run defender. Teams should still have realistic expectations when it comes to if he will be able to consistently win one-on-one battles, or if Mathis will be used more in dirty areas.

Flexibility

Mathis has been able to win with both an inside-out technique and an outside-in technique when getting into the backfield. Despite that, he has some questions surrounding his lower half and body control. This defender will not always be able to decelerate and adjust his feet when working to stop ball carriers. On top of that, there are obvious moments where Mathis can become top heavy and collapse to the ground. He has some possible balance questions when looking to work in space.

CHIEFS FIT

Phidarian Mathis may not completely fit the more athletic philosophy that the Kansas City Chiefs appear to be transitioning to. However, we know that Brett Veach and Andy Reid prioritize having different molds and plenty of depth in the trenches. Mathis could play as a gap controller and is just as comfortable against the run, as he is against the pass. This defender also has the power, explosiveness and heavy hands that Steve Spagnuolo may gravitate towards. Mathis is flexible enough with his hand technique, to where he could play a significant role early on during his NFL career.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.