For a day, Tyrann Mathieu got the “humbling”feeling of returning to the glory days at LSU, the place where he made a name for himself. It was apparent that both teammates and head coach Les Miles enjoyed seeing their former player back on the field.
Despite the large number of impressive prospects like Kevin Minter, Barkevious Mingo working out at the Pro Day, all eyes were on Tyrann Mathieu. The play-making defensive back was suspended from his former team after repeated violations of the team’s drug-use policy. He was suspended one game in 2011 for a failed drug test, before his eventual dismissal.
After his suspension, Mathieu chose not to transfer to another school, as he would have had to sit out a year. Instead, the young man decided to work toward bettering his future.
The “Honey Badger” decided to stay at LSU, and train for his dream of being in the NFL. Mathieu describes football as “pretty much my life.” Having been removed from a top-tier collegiate program, just one year after being named as a Heisman finalist, may have just motivated the Honey Badger even more.
The future NFL prospect publicly released a video saying that he was going to change his way of life. “I only have one more shot,” he told NOLA.com. “This is my last chance. I don’t have any more after this, or I cannot get accepted to the NFL. This is truly my last chance and I am going to give it all I’ve got.”
Despite having his reputation questioned by the media, Mathieu is training like a guy who is blissfully unaware of his troubled past, as proven by his workouts at the NFL Combine and LSU Pro Day.
Mathieu performed admirably at the combine, running a 4.47 40-yard dash and showing great explosiveness in the agility drills. Perhaps even more important than his on-field performance, Mathieu said all the right things in interviews with NFL scouts. His biggest task is trying to convince NFL teams about his rehab progress going forward.
Mathieu very sincerely told the media that he “knows what it’s like to be humiliated and that there’s not a chance in [his] lifetime that [he] goes back down that road.”
There were clearly some that are still impressed by Mathieu’s playmaking ability; still, others are avoiding him like the plague. Regardless of how scouts feel about the talented defender, they will probably have to trust their gut as Mathieu opted not to improve on his stellar 40-time and vertical jump of 34 inches. In fact, his combine was so impressive that he really had nothing to prove at the Pro Day.
Ultimately, the Honey Badger did nothing to raise his draft stock any more than he did in Indy. Many teams will still consider him a day two prospect going in the middle round of the NFL Draft. However, I fully expect a team or two to reach for the former Tiger in round 2. With the massive roster overhauls in free agency, there are a number of teams with needs at the cornerback position. The hometown New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Philadelphia Eagles are among the teams with the biggest need.
Aside from his off-field issues, Mathieu’s biggest knock is his size. He stands just 5-foot-9 and weighs just over 185 pounds. Teams are starting to value bigger players at that position with the number of bigger receiving threats entering the league. He is not an elite cover guy, but has the speed to recover should he get beat on the outside. The instincts combined with his play-making ability on defense and special teams should help out when it comes down to considering one of the more intriguing draft –eligible candidates. His high risk, high reward potential will be the biggest factor to dictate which round he will be taken. Personally, teams will be getting a steal if he falls anywhere past the third round. Love him or hate him, Honey Badger’s stock is rising and he will be playing in NFL this year.
