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See Through The Film: Evan Mathis

Andrew McKagan |
April 12, 2014 | 3:50 p.m. PDT

Staff Writer

Evan Mathis, No. 69 and the starting left guard of the Philadelphia Eagles, wants a new contract. Mathis just signed a five-year, $25 million contract two years ago, but wants a raise after a Pro Bowl season. Is he deserving? The average fan probably wouldn't know the answer to this question, so I decided to study Mathis' game and try to come up with an answer. Here's the good and bad about Mathis from what I saw:

Week 1 Eagles @ Redskins

4:11: Evan Mathis gets downfield to throw a block on London Fletcher (59) that springs Lesean McCoy into the open field for a big gain. Mathis isn’t the most athletic guard in the world, but he’s athletic enough to get the job done in most cases.

7:27: Mathis displaces the nose tackle (64, near middle of the screen) four yards downfield and about five yards to the defense’s left, creating a huge hole for Bryce Brown (34) to run through. Mathis uses good hand placement on the defender to create leverage, which is how he is able to move defensive linemen with apparent ease. Notice also that Mathis’ feet are spread apart to create better balance and stability.

9:17: Mathis is the only offensive lineman left one-on-one to block a rusher for the entirety of the play, and he does a perfect job. Notice the wide base of his feet once again, as well as his hand placement low and inside the chest area of Stephen Bowen (72).

40:27: Mathis (69) isn’t a road-grader type of offensive lineman, and doesn’t usually overpower defenders at the point of attack. This play is a perfect example of how he doesn’t need to do that to be an effective run blocker; Mathis is able to wall off his defender and keep him out of the play, again displaying good balance and body control.

Week 7 Cowboys @ Eagles

15:06: Mathis does his part to seal the nose tackle off on the double team and then works smoothly to the second level and successfully walls off linebacker Bruce Carter (54). Mathis’ body positioning on this play is impeccable. Although the play isn’t successful due to penetration on the back side of the play, Mathis executed his assignment to perfection.

16:26: Mathis (left side of screen) is unable to make the successful block on cornerback Orlando Scandrick on the screen play, who then makes the tackle on the receiver. Mathis is certainly athletic, but his athleticism isn’t the strength of his game, as evident here.

31:31: Mathis stays low, keeps a wide base, and gets his hands inside on the chest of the defender in a flawless pass protection job.

37:40: Mathis was unable to handle Jason Hatcher’s quick swim move, and probably should have been called for holding on this play. Mathis struggled when matched up against Hatcher one-on-one throughout this game, as many players would. Nonetheless, if Mathis wants to be paid like a top guard, he should be able to go head-to-head with the top interior defenders in the league.

39:20: Hatcher again beats Mathis with handwork and an extreme burst across Mathis’ body at the snap. Mathis simply doesn’t look athletic enough as Hatcher notches the hit on Foles.

59:46: Mathis pulls from the offense’s left to right and takes out Bruce Carter as he lead-blocks for Lesean McCoy. Mathis again displays decent movement skills and gets the job done well as he takes the smaller Carter completely out of the play.

1:18:09: Mathis does a much better job on Hatcher this time, and appears to be more aggressive in his blocking; instead of letting Hatcher come to him, he goes right at Hatcher. Perhaps this suggests Mathis made adjustments in-game or maybe only that Hatcher is getting tired. Either way, Mathis rendered him ineffective on this play using solid technique one-on-one, and should be doing this consistently as a supposed elite NFL guard.

Week 17 Eagles @ Cowboys (because I wanted to see Mathis vs. Hatcher again)

8:17: Hatcher sheds Mathis, knocking him to the ground, and makes the tackle on Lesean McCoy.

16:50: Mathis pushes Hatcher past the pocket, taking him out of the play. A win for Mathis.

47:23: Mathis seals Hatcher perfectly, which springs McCoy on a big run to the second level of the defense.

56:34: Mathis nearly gets beat by Hatcher’s quick hand movement, which seems to be Mathis’ main weakness (understandably so).

Week 13 Cardinals @ Eagles

8:06: In Mathis’ first one-on-one pass blocking matchup with Calais Campbell of the day, Mathis does an excellent job of clearly winning the battle. I chose this game specifically to see how Mathis would do against a stud like Campbell after struggling a bit against Hatcher, and Mathis can quell my worries about his handling of elite talent if he can keep this up.

8:31: Mathis gets off the combo block and works to the second level of the Cardinal defense, taking the extremely athletic linebacker Daryl Washington (58, left side of the screen) totally out of the play with a perfect block. Impressive work by Mathis to block Washington in space.

13:12: Arizona runs a triple stunt trying to confuse Philadelphia’s offensive line. Mathis, however, does a good job mentally of figuring out the appropriate player to block by staying patient and not taking the bait of trying to block one of the earlier looping defensive players as they run across the formation. This play shows Mathis’ football intelligence and veteran savvy when what could have been a devastating stunt is shut down into a nondescript defensive play.

19:50: Mathis blows Campbell off the ball in the run game (left/middle of the screen), which is no small feat. Mathis’ superb block opens up that gaping alley for McCoy to run through. This block is a demonstration of pure strength that usually isn’t Mathis’ playing style, but it is good to see such diversity to his game against the stiff competition of Campbell.

28:06: Another example of Mathis’ stellar one-on-one pass protection (middle of the screen), this time against Frostee Rucker. Consistently excellent technique, using his hands as well as wide foot placement.

29:02: This running play doesn’t end up being successful, but Mathis once again handles Campbell in the running game (left side of screen). He engages Campbell at the snap, and stays engaged throughout the play while keeping Campbell from being involved whatsoever. Very impressive work.

29:51: Mathis rides Campbell past the pocket and out of the play. Another win for the Philly guard.

34:26: Mathis stands up Campbell’s bull rush (93) and keeps him from even getting a whiff of Foles. Outstanding job with his feet and hand placement once again. This is the kind of protection that the best offensive linemen in the league produce on a consistent basis, as Mathis has done so far in this game.

35:47: Campbell wins quickly here with a quick swim move that leaves Mathis in his wake. This is the most dominant play from Campbell so far in this game. A commonality in the instances of both Hatcher and Campbell beating Mathis is the deft hand-use of each defender.

45:26: I know it’s repetitive, but it’s pretty darn impressive how Mathis essentially locks up one of the better interior players in the league in this game. One-on-one, too.

One of the things most impressive about Mathis' game is his consistently sound technique. He doesn't appear to be the most athletically gifted of offensive linemen, and struggled at times against the ultra-athletic Jason Hatcher--a problem that isn't going to go away because 1) Mathis is 32 years old and isn't getting any younger and 2) Jason Hatcher stayed in-division when he signed with the Redskins last month. Still, Mathis seemed to make adjustments and perfomed better in his second matchup with Hatcher. Additionally, his domination of Calais Campbell was just damn impressive.

Mathis looks like one of the most reliable offensive linemen you could ask for, and while he probably isn't the type of player you'd want to build an offense around (especially at his age) because of his physical limitations (he is undersized at 298 pounds and isn't the most powerful or long-armed guy in the world), he is worth some good money. But is he worth top-of-the-market money like he wants? I would say no he is not, because he isn't enough of a difference-maker. Plus, as a left guard, he receives a lot of help from the center as the offense slides their protection most often to the left because it is the weak side of the formation. The Eagles could therefore likely find another player to plug into Mathis' spot and there probably wouldn't be a huge dropoff.

ALSO SEE: See Through The Film: JJ Watt

For all the things Mathis does do, however, I think his current salary of $5.1 million--good enough for 14th highest among guards--is appropriate. He is smart, reasonably athletic, and gets the job done without making mental mistakes the vast majority of the time. Plus, in Chip Kelly's zone running scheme, Mathis excels at lateral mobility and sliding smoothly to the second level to take out linebackers. 

But with the Eagles recently extending both Jason Peters and Travis Kelce along the offensive line, they almost surely won't re-invest in Mathis as well. Unless he accepts his contract as is, we could very well see him playing somewhere else next season.

Reach Staff Writer Andrew McKagan here or follow him



 

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