The Houston Texans Will Love Washington Huskies OLB JoJo Mathis
By Bret Stuter
The NFL just invited Washington Huskies outside linebacker JoJo Mathis to their ranks. Here’s why the Houston Texans will love him
The University of Washington Huskies are an NFL player assembly line under head coach Chris Petersen. The team simply does not look to the stars: either in recruits or in production on the field. What Coach Petersen insists upon is contribution. What the got out of defensive end/ outside linebacker JoJo Mathis is nothing short of sensational.
The Huskies played a very specific scheme, one that tasked three down defensive linemen with containment, and hurled a pass rusher into the backfield to sack the quarterback.
In six games, JoJo Mathis pulled five quarterback sacks. And he was on track to pull down quite a few more. But he was injured and was unable to return to the field. That impacted the Huskies championship hopes. But it also impacted Mathis’ NFL dreams.
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What the Houston Texans will love about OLB JoJo Mathis
The Washington Huskies turned Mathis loose on the quarterback. But it was not simply an all out bull rush each time. Mathis set a nice edge, routinely turning plays inside to pursuit. He also played bigger than his 6-foot-2 266 pound frame.
JoJo Mathis is one of my favorite Huskies. Not just because he can demolish the quarterback, but because he assumed tremendous responsibility for his team and his teammates. He studied the films of all PAC-12 linemen he might face, so that he could anticipate their moves. That was over a summer before the season began. He takes everything seriously, and does so with an incredible passion that is unequaled.
Many scouting reports had JoJo Mathis projected no worse than the fifth round of the NFL Draft. So the fall did not sit well with Mathis.
As if JoJo Mathis needed more incentive, he is now fired up about the NFL passing him over. That’s the type of fuel some players have used to propel them into significant NFL careers. I can easily envision that same trajectory with Mathis in the NFL for a very successful legacy.
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What the Houston Texans will need to work on with outside linebacker JoJo Mathis
No NFL rookie is foolproof. And in the circumstances of a player injured for the last year of NCAA play, that spectrum of areas grows. Per the TexansWire.USAToday.com, the team cites the question of his injury and his overall durability as two areas that must be overcome. But even that assessment concludes that JoJo Mathis has an excellent chance of making the Texans roster.
As Mathis will serve as an outside linebacker in the Texans scheme, he will need to work on his pass coverage. And there is that matter of getting up to playing health once more. He has been working hard and constantly to land into the NFL. Now he will be tasked with continue that effort to get onto the practice field.
Why this pick is such a good fit
In the end, this is an excellent fit. With NFL superstar J.J. Watt coming off a scary back injury, and with the returns of drafting Jadeveon Clowney finally beginning to show up in the statistics, you might think there is only a clipboard role for someone with the pass rushing acumen of JoJo Mathis. Actually, that could not be further from the truth.
With two stars on the team already “tweaked” health-wise, it’s imperative that the team find ways to rotate their stars out of the rotation while not falling in pass-rush production. JoJo Mathis gives the team those options, giving injured players a chance to sit a couple of plays while Mathis gains valuable game experience.
Mathis also brings the acumen for significant special teams play. That is an area the Houston Texans have proudly enjoyed for some time.
Next: Why the Los Angeles Rams will love Washington Huskies Jake Eldrenkamp
Honestly, JoJo Mathis is a fit on any NFL team roster. The fact is that the Houston Texans were simply the wisest of the bunch to bring him in.