Tag: Damarri Mathis

Broncos need one of Riley Moss or Damarri Mathis to step up in 2024

Riley Moss and Damarri Mathis appear set to compete for the Broncos’ No. 2 cornerback job this summer. Levi Wallace is also in the mix.

Two years ago, the Denver Broncos used a fourth-round pick to select cornerback Damarri Mathis. Last year, Denver used a third-round pick to select Riley Moss. So far, neither has proven to be a reliable option to start across from Pat Surtain.

Mathis began last season as a starter before being benched. Moss had core muscle surgery last offseason and only played 23 snaps on defense as a rookie. The Broncos will need at least one of the two cornerbacks to take a big step forward in 2024.

“With Riley, he is an exceptional athlete,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said on June 12. “He makes it look easy. He’s really smooth, he’s mature, he’s smart, he has great size and great ball skills. When you watch him play, it looks really easy and he’s always in a comfortable position.

“Damarri, I’ve been impressed with his technique and eye placement. He has physical traits that most corners don’t have. He has power, he has quickness, he has size. So his thing was just upping his football I.Q., and he’s done that.”

Denver signed veteran Levi Wallace just before the draft, presumably to have an experienced fallback option in case Moss and Mathis don’t show improvement this summer. The Broncos also used a fifth-round pick to select Kris Abrams-Draine during April’s draft.

“[I]t should be a good competition in the fall, in training camp,” Joseph said. “But obviously we need more than three corners — you need four, maybe five guys. So it’s good to see both young guys grow.”

Surtain and Ja’Quan McMillian are the team’s best cornerbacks, but McMillian plays in the slot. Moss and Mathis appear set to compete with Wallace and Abrams-Draine for the No. 2 outside cornerback role this summer.

The competition will kick off when training camp begins next week.

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Broncos roster series: No. 27, CB Damarri Mathis

After struggling in his first two seasons, Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis will aim to have a bounce-back year in 2024.

Broncos Wire’s 90-man offseason roster series continues today with a look at third-year cornerback Damarri Mathis, No. 27.

Before the Broncos: Mathis (5-11, 195 pounds) played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers. After missing his senior season in 2020 due to injury, Mathis returned for a fifth year in 2021 and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors. In four seasons played, Mathis totaled 87 tackles, 19 pass breakups, five interceptions and one defensive touchdown in 46 games at Pitt.

Broncos tenure: Denver picked Mathis in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft. He ended up starting 11 games as a rookie due to injuries at the position. Mathis ended his first season with seven pass breakups, but he allowed a 69.1% completion rate to opposing quarterbacks. Last year, he started the first six games of the season before being benched. Mathis broke up just one pass in 2023 and allowed a 74.4% completion rate to opposing QBs.

Chances to make the 53-man roster: Likely. Despite his early-career struggles, the Broncos have not given up on Mathis yet. He’s a longshot to win a starting job this summer, but Mathis seems likely to make the active roster as a backup cornerback.

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Broncos CB Damarri Mathis entering pivotal season in his career

Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis needs to step up this season if he wants to outlast his rookie contract in Denver.

Damarri Mathis still has two years left on his contract, but he is seemingly entering a pivotal season with the Denver Broncos.

Mathis, 25, was picked by the Broncos in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft out of Pittsburgh. Denver was forced to start him for 11 games as a rookie due to injuries at the position and Mathis allowed a 69.1% completion rate in coverage.

Mathis also began the 2023 season as a starter and he struggled again, allowing a 74.4% completion rate and three touchdowns. Mathis was benched seven games into the season and never regained the starting role.

Mathis might now be entering a crossroads in his career. If he can bounce back, the young cornerback will get an opportunity to once again compete for a starting job. But if his downward trajectory continues, Mathis won’t be re-signed when he hits free agency in two years.

“We have great competition there,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said when asked about Mathis and the cornerback competition on June 11. “He played well two years ago as a rookie. These guys understand that at corner, it’s a tough position. It’s probably one of the harder positions in sport. You have to have a short memory, and you have to have some mental fortitude.

“I think he has that grit. I really like where he’s at weight-wise. I think he’s moving well. I know he’s trained quite a bit this offseason, got his weight down. He’s impressed here during this period.”

Denver has backed Mathis publicly, but the team’s actions speak louder than Payton’s praise. The Broncos used a third-round pick to draft Riley Moss last year and a fifth-round pick to select Kris Abrams-Draine this year. Denver also signed veteran Levi Wallace during free agency. Those moves signal the Broncos looking for fallback (or replacement) options at cornerback.

If he wants to stick around beyond his rookie contract, Mathis needs to have a big bounce-back season in 2024.

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5 changes that turned the Broncos’ defense around

How did Vance Joseph fix the Broncos’ defense? These five changes were crucial.

Four games into the 2023 season, the Denver Broncos had a historically bad defense, leading many fans and pundits to call for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to be fired.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton stuck with Joseph, though, giving him time to turn things around. Payton’s patience in Joseph has seemingly paid off as Denver’s defense has turned a corner in recent weeks.

After being blasted by the Miami Dolphins 70-20 in Week 3, Denver’s defense had another poor showing against the Chicago Bears in Week 4, but the Broncos did manage to win that game 31-28. The Broncos allowed 31 points again the following week in a 31-21 loss to the New York Jets.

Since that Jets game, Denver’s defense has allowed 19, 17 and 9 points over the last three weeks, and two of those games were against the Kansas City Chiefs. So what changed on defense? How did the Broncos go from allowing 70 points in Miami to allowing just 9 points to Kansas City?

We don’t know the ins and outs of Denver’s scheme, but it’s easy to track personnel changes. Here’s a quick look at five big changes that have turned the Broncos’ defense around.

Broncos vs. Commanders: 5 things to watch for in Week 2

Here are five things to watch for when the Broncos host the Commanders in Week 2.

Week 2 of the NFL season brings the Washington Commanders to the Mile High City to face the Denver Broncos.

Broncos Wire examines five big storylines going into Sunday’s game.

Broncos need CB Damarri Mathis to have a bounce-back performance in Week 2

If he’s going to keep his starting job, Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis needs to have a big bounce-back performance this week.

While star cornerback Pat Surtain shut down his side of the field against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, teammate Damarri Mathis had arguably the worst performance of his career.

Mathis was targeted in coverage by Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo nine times. On those targets, Mathis allowed eight receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns, according to Zach Segars of Mile High Sports.

It was an absolutely dreadful performance as Mathis proved to be a huge liability in the secondary. There is some hope for optimism based on Mathis’ history, though.

Last year, Mathis was penalized for pass interference four times in his first NFL start, a rough way to begin his career. As the season went on, Mathis showed improvement and held onto his starting job.

It’s possible that Sunday might have been one terrible game and not necessarily a sign of things to come for Mathis in 2023. If he does not improve against the Washington Commanders this week, though, Mathis’ role as a starter role will be questioned.

Riley Moss, Denver’s third-round pick in April’s draft, was inactive for the team’s season opener with an abdomen injury. Once healthy, Moss will likely push Mathis for a starting job, so the pressure’s on for the second-year cornerback to have a bounce-back performance in Week 2.

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Broncos’ studs and duds from 17-16 loss to Raiders

Do you agree with these studs and duds from the Broncos’ loss to the Raiders on Sunday?

The Sean Payton era in Denver is now officially underway.

However, things did not go quite according to plan in his debut, which ended with the Las Vegas Raiders getting a 17-16 victory at Empower Field at Mile High in Week 1.

Broncos Wire examines five studs and duds from the loss.

Broncos position preview for 2023: Cornerback

The Broncos have quality starters at cornerback and exciting young defensive backs behind them on the depth chart.

After using a third-round draft pick to select Iowa’s Riley Moss in April, the Denver Broncos now have 10 true cornerbacks on their 90-man offseason roster: Pat Surtain, Damarri Mathis, K’Waun Williams, Riley Moss, Tremon Smith, Essang Bassey, Ja’Quan McMillian, Art Green, Faion Hicks and Delonte Hood (it’s unclear if Devon Key will play primarily as a cornerback or safety).

Surtain returns as the team’s star cornerback and Mathis enters his second season as the early favorite to start across from PS2. Williams remains the top option to play in the slot this fall, but Moss will get an opportunity to compete for playing time right away.

Broncos’ (Projected) Cornerback Depth Chart

These Broncos players earned big performance-based bonuses in 2022

After starting 11 games last season, Broncos CB Damarri Mathis was rewarded by the NFL with $437,666 in performance-based pay.

The NFL has a program that compensates low-paid players who logged playing time in the previous season.

The performance-based pay comes directly from the NFL and does not impact each team’s salary cap. Here’s a general explanation, courtesy of the league’s press release:

Under the Performance-Based Pay program, a fund is created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary. Players become eligible to receive a bonus distribution in any regular season in which they play at least one official down. In general, players with higher playtime percentages and lower salaries benefit most from the pool.

For the Denver Broncos, six players earned significant performance-based bonuses from their playing time last season. Here are Denver’s players with the biggest performance-based pay in 2022, courtesy of KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis:

1. OT Cameron Fleming $544,459
2. CB Damarri Mathis $437,666
3. LB Alex Singleton, $424,516
6. OLB Jonathon Cooper $427,385
7. OL Quinn Meinerz $392,644
8. TE Eric Saubert $376,236

Fleming, Mathis, Singleton and Meinerz ended up starting most of the season, so it’s no surprise that their salaries did not match up with their playing time. The NFL is helping compensate for that with these performance-based bonuses.

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