Until Pat Narduzzi started recruiting cornerbacks who could learn to cover wide receivers without safety help, the NFL largely ignored Pitt’s defensive backs.
For eight consecutive drafts from 2010-17, no Pitt defensive back heard his name called.
Then, the doors leading from Pitt’s workout facility sprung open and six defensive backs have emerged in four drafts since 2018, including cornerback Damarri Mathis, who went to the Denver Broncos on Saturday in the fourth round (115th overall).
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Mathis joins Jordan Whitehead and Avonte Maddox (both picked in the fourth round, 2018), Dane Jackson (seventh round, 2020), Jason Pinnock (fifth round, 2021) and Damar Hamlin (seventh round, 2021).
Mathis (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) missed the entire 2020 season after injuring a shoulder working out at home prior to training camp.
Otherwise, what happened Saturday would have occurred a year ago and he would have already cashed his first NFL check. Instead, he returned to Pitt last season and assumed his role as Pitt’s best cover corner. He was named honorable mention All-ACC while intercepting two passes and breaking up six — two in the victory against Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Game — before opting out of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Overall, he played in 49 games, with 25 starts in his Pitt career, totaling five interceptions and 22 pass breakups, including 13 in 2019.
Mathis helped his cause considerably when his vertical jump at Pitt’s Pro Day was measured at 43½ inches, 5 inches higher than LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who went third overall to the Houston Texans. Mathis also ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
