Draft analysts heaped lofty expectations on Cornell quarterback Jeff Mathews prior to the 2013 season (Photo: ivyleaguesports.com)
Draftbrowns.com Staff Writer: Justin Higdon
Scouting NFL Draft eligible collegians in May, June and July can be a good way to inject meaningful football into the dog days of NFL practices and player arrests. One of the darlings of the ever-growing draft community this past summer was Ivy League slinger, Jeff Mathews of Cornell. The Big Red finished 4-6 in 2012, and lost three straight to close out the year. But that didn’t slow the love fest for Mathews, whose legend grew to the point where some considered him a potential first round draft pick. Alas, summer love is fleeting, and Mathews closed his college career with a disappointing senior season. His name and the phrase, “first round” won’t appear together in many more sentences. But Mathews should still get a few chances to impress this off-season, and he remains a viable draft prospect.
Jeff Mathews QB Cornell 6’3 1/4” 225
Mathews played football and basketball at Camarillo High School in Camarillo, California. He became Cornell’s starter as a freshman and passed for over 11,000 yards in four seasons. In 38 career games, Mathews completed 62% of his throws, averaged just under eight yards per pass attempt, and threw 72 touchdowns against 42 interceptions. He is Cornell’s all time passing leader and holds Ivy League records for passing yardage in a game and a season.
Mathews looks the part of an NFL quarterback – a tall, pocket passer with a strong throwing arm. He’s capable of connecting on a sideline out or squeezing the ball between defenders down the seam. However, Mathews grapples with his touch. He doesn’t always seem to have a feel for when to adjust his velocity or trajectory. As a result, he’ll occasionally put too much heat on a short crossing route, or float one down the sideline. Mathews’ ball placement is also erratic. He often struggles with timing on crossing routes and slants, and throws behind his receivers down the middle of the field. These passes will need to become second nature to him, and consistently missing late and behind his receivers will at best eliminate yards after the catch, and at worst result in costly turnovers.
When in rhythm, Mathews can convert in the short passing game, but when asked to scan the field his processing and motion seem to slow down. And while he often took a brutal beating behind a porous offensive line, Mathews was also guilty of holding the ball too long on occasion. Consequently, he was sacked 140 times in his career, including nearly four times per game as a senior. Mathews is able to adjust his throwing angle under pressure and complete passes around oncoming pass rushers. However he sometimes slips into a three-quarters delivery regardless, which could lead to batted balls. He’ll need to find a balance for when to drop down and when to come in over the top with his throws.
Mathews is not a burner by any means, but he moves well enough to buy himself time and extend a play. He is capable of throwing while on the run, and can deliver with accuracy especially when rolling to his right. Mathews will even mix in the occasional designed run, and though he won’t be asked to do much of this in the pros, he will need to learn when to cut his losses and slide or get out of bounds. Too often he left himself vulnerable to a big hit at the end of a play.
There’s little question Mathews is more talented than the typical Ivy League quarterback, and while he’ll never sniff the first round of the draft he does possess the arm strength and athleticism necessary to compete at the NFL level. However, Mathews is a project who will be making a huge leap in competition level, and who will need to develop a more consistent delivery while honing his accuracy and touch. Above all, Mathews must learn to speed up his processing at the NFL level, or he will take a pounding if he ever even sees the field. Green quarterbacks struggle in that department, and this particular young gun would be best served wearing a baseball cap and carrying a clipboard for a couple of seasons. Mathews won’t be selected on Day Two of the draft, let alone Day one, but he should still hear his name called in the sixth or seventh round next Mother’s Day weekend.
Game Notes:
Vs. Yale (’12)
- Good height – tall, pocket passer
- Sets up the screen nicely
- Not fast but mobile and good job sensing pressure – rolls right and runs for a first down
- Looks like he has a slinging motion – bit of a 3/4 delivery on a couple passes
- He scans the field and gets the ball out quickly
- Puts the ball on his WR’s fingertips on a crossing route but the ball is dropped
- Scans left to right and finds a WR between 3 defenders – ball came out a bit wobbly and behind the WR but not by much
- Stares down a WR on a sideline (SL) but delivers a catchable ball up high – ball gets jarred loose
- Pats the ball, pump fake and finds a WR in the back corner – perfect ball placement over the defender and the WR drags a toe to get the TD
- He has good arm strength but not a rocket
- Three-quarters delivery may leave him prone to getting passes batted but also shows an ability to deliver from a different angle
- Victimized by a few drops
- Zips a ball in stride to the front corner of the end zone (EZ) for a TD
- Nice job feeling the pocket cave in around him and avoiding a sack
- Strong stiff arm to avoid a sack, stays upright and resets to throw the ball away
- Hangs a deep ball a little but draws a pass interference (PI) flag
- Avoids pressure again for a positive gain
- Pretty accurate game – when he misses it’s behind the WR
- Needs to learn how/when to slide – he’s taking shots on scrambles
- Shows good command and presence directing traffic on a roll out to his right
- Able to throw with accuracy while on the move
Vs. Penn (’12)
- Gets rid of it quickly on a short hitch to the middle left
- Bit of a windup on a WR screen to the right
- Throws behind the RB on a pass into the left flat
- Wild throw on a backwards pass – too much heat on it – winds up fumbled and recovered by the D
- Rolls right and throws accurately on the move on a short pass
- Play action and delivers a strike on a deep throw on a post play from right to left – good trajectory and in stride to an open man for a long TD
- Good timing on a throw back screen to his left
- Gets rid of the ball into the right flat just before he gets hit
- Pressured and rolls right – delivers on the run down the right (R) SL for a long gain – wobbly ball
- Drops back and looks down field but holds it too long and takes a sack
- Good placement and timing on a short out to the left (L) SL
- Miscommunication – throws an out to the R SL and WR runs a go – almost picked off
- Behind the RB on a screen to the right – slows him down and limits yards after the catch (YAC)
- Fires one on a slant to the left and WR can’t handle it
- Low on a WR screen but the ball is dropped
- Tries to squeeze one between three defenders and it’s dropped
- Good presence to throw the ball away at the feet of his fallen RB on a busted screen – avoids the sack
- Throws behind the head of his WR on a crossing route left
- Great zip – throws a strike to his slot man to the right between three defenders
- Unloads quickly to his left and the pass is batted down
- Doesn’t see pressure coming from the right and takes a huge hit and fumbles – has to be aware of that front side defender
- Crossing route dropped but again the ball is at the WR’s head and behind him
- Way late on an out left and throws it right to the DB who read the route the entire time
- Again throws a backwards pass high and a little too hot but the RB handles it
- Holds the ball and gets pressure from the front side and takes a sack
- Holds the ball and fires a strikes down the middle through traffic for a big gain
- Nice touch on an out to the TE – places it where he can pick up YAC
- Another cross up with his WR and hangs one into the EZ that almost gets picked off
- Floats an out to the right – doesn’t seem to have a great feel for when to adjust his velocity
- Throws deep down the R SL and drops it in over the top of two DBs – WR had to slow just a bit to make the catch
- Sharp throw complete down the seam to the R in front of the DBs where only his man can get to it
- Throws a jump ball into the EZ and draws a flag – three defenders and one WR in the area
- Rolls right and throws late back across his body – picked off and run back to the 10 but play is called back for a roughing the passer call
- Shotgun snaps are erratic and consistently force him to adjust
- Sometimes looks deliberate with his motion – delivery isn’t consistent
- Goes deep down the right seam and overshoots his man
- Makes a pump/shoulder fake as he steps up and throws complete deep down the left hash – drops the ball into the WR in stride for a big gain
- Looks left to right and lobs one incomplete wide to the right
Vs. Princeton (’13)
- Tries to get the ball out quickly on a slot screen and ball is batted at the line of scrimmage (LOS) and picked off
- Nice touch on a flare out into the right slot
- Getting the ball out quickly
- Shows nice touch on a screen
- All of his early throws are within five yards of the LOS
- Overthrows his TE down the seam to the right
- Throws off his back foot high down the middle – dangerous throw with three defenders in the area
- Shows good timing in a screen – fakes to the left and went back to the right
- Locks onto a slot WR to the left and the DB jumps the route – almost a pick six
- Gets pressure from the right after pulling the ball down – tries to step up in the pocket but takes a sack
- Rolls right and connects on a short pass – threw on the move but not a difficult pass
- Pass tipped at the LOS in the red zone
- Rolls right and throws back down the middle of the field – draws a PI flag
- Drilled as he throws and the ball flutters and gets picked off
- Good ball placement on a pass down the R SL – a little inside and gets broken up
- Flushed and runs around the right end for a first down – not a fast runner but mobile enough
- Capable of delivering with accuracy when rolling to his right
- Wild throw down the right middle of the field after getting pressure up the gut – risky throw
- Spins out of initial pressure but takes another sack
- Throws with zip on a short crossing route – hit his WR in stride
- Sharp throw across the middle is dropped
- Steps up and away from initial pressure again but gets swarmed and sacked – poor protection all game
- Showing a consistently quick release
- Looks middle the right and places a perfect pass in stride complete down the right SL for a big gain
- Telegraphs a slot screen to the left
- Pass to the right gets batted down at the LOS – third batted pass of the day
- Fires a ball down the middle of the field complete between three defenders – looked left and hit his WR in stride
- Quick release complete short across the middle
- With pressure in his face fades back and fires over top of the defender complete for a TD down the seam to the right – great timing and ball placement
- Steps back from pressure and hit from behind – fumble
Vs. Dartmouth (’13)
- Surveys the field from left to right and fires into the flat low – dropped
- Under pressure and throws low to the short middle of the field but dropped again
- Out of the shotgun looks left to right and scrambles around right edge for a short gain
- Flips down on a screen – good timing
- Fires low and short to the TE between two defenses
- Pass is batted down on third down
- Looks left to right and goes downfield for a big gain to the RB – nice trajectory but very good diving catch
- Starts to scramble up in the pocket but sacked
- Drops and steps into the cross field pass to the right SL
- Fires over the middle in good position for YAC and it’s dropped
- Play action and steps into his throw but comes in too low and short
- Slow on the release on a WR screen right and gets the ball batted down
- Pump fake right, fake middle then dumps off left
- Lots of time but retreats and takes a horrible sack
- Pressure up the middle and throws it away
- Throws late over the middle between four defenders – brutal INT
- Steps into it and fires right across the field – strong throw close to a first down
- Pressure steps up and dumps it off middle – low and behind the WR
- Fourth and two gets pressure and steps up – dives ahead for a first down
- Fires out to the left for a first down
- Has a strong arm – good zip – but inconsistent accuracy
- Strong delivery on an out to the R SL
- Looks left and threads a needle through three defenders for a tight TD pass – big time throw
- Steps up from pressure and is able to run ahead for a few yards
- Shows some athleticism as a runner
- Strong throw and right spiral on a downfield throw to the L SL – WR unable to make the tough catch
- Evades pressure and runs toward the first down marker and makes a juke to the inside for extra yards – slick open field run
- Does a pretty good job avoiding pressure in the pocket and throwing it away but he makes a couple mistakes holding the ball too long
- Desperation underhanded flip on fourth down under pressure