Hampton's Mathis Turning Heads

[TexasTerror]

Texans just continue to get more and more excited about Jerome Mathis out of Hampton. Could very well of have been a steal where he was gabbed...

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TEXANS ROOKIE MINICAMP
Mathis turning heads with blazing speed
Raw 4th-round wideout expected to compete for job opposite Johnson
By CARLTON THOMPSON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Dom Capers saw the athletic ability and leadership skills that led the Texans to use their first-round draft choice on defensive lineman Travis Johnson. Capers saw vision and quickness in running back Vernand Morency that reminded him of Domanick Davis.

Among the things Capers didn't see during the Texans' two-day rookie minicamp was a quarterback overthrowing receiver Jerome Mathis. That's not as much an endorsement of tryout quarterbacks Chance Mock, Pierce Buck and Paul Troth as it is a testament to Mathis' legs.

It's not easy to overthrow a target as fast as Mathis, who was clocked at 4.28 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. Mathis would be the first to admit speed was the reason NFL scouts found him at Hampton University and the first to admit that speed alone won't keep him in the league.

Continued...
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3162205

[Tribe4SF]

Having seen him play, I can tell you the Texans got the steal of the draft in Mathis. Not at all surprising that he was the standout at their mini-camp. He will learn quickly and I predict he will be a star for Houston.

[TexasTerror]

Well, if he turns out to be a stud at WR with his speed, it will definitely cause matchup problems for teams opposing the Texans. Andre Johnson is the WR of the future as he's already a Pro Bowl WR. Anything that helps take coverage off of him can't be anything but beneficial. With improved blocking, which we saw at the end of last year making for a consistent running game, this could be trouble for opposing defenses. Texans are playoff bound in 2005!

[blackfordpu]

I am a Texans fan and would love to see them go to the playoffs but I think they are still in the early stages of the game. They are growing and building what could potentially be a super bowl winning team but I dont think they are there quite yet. They will have a winning season this year, but the playoffs, maybe next year.

If we have two studs at WR that will definetley help make us more versitile. Maybe even open up the running game more and let Davis go crazy. However, it could just turn the Texans into a primary pass offense if both are good enough and fast enough to outplay the defense. We'll see how it all pans out, I hope I am wrong about the playoff thing, that would be awsome.

[TexasTerror]

I am a Texans fan and would love to see them go to the playoffs but I think they are still in the early stages of the game. They are growing and building what could potentially be a super bowl winning team but I dont think they are there quite yet. They will have a winning season this year, but the playoffs, maybe next year.

How can you say they are still growing? They are still growing, but they are mature enough in the process to win. This is not the Cleveland Browns expansion efforts, this is the Charley Casserly-led effort. He's got the pieces in that he needs. More depth than ever. If the Texans stay healthy and the running game evolves, there is NO reason this team does not get a wild card.

Think of the schedule this year. They'll get second in the AFC South, no question there, but they could very well go 4-2 in division this year and make some noise, especially playing a weak NFC West division (let's say going 3-1). AFC North should atleast be a 2-2 split. Your talking 9-5 at that point. Your other two foes are Kansas City and Buffalo. I like playing KC on ESPN. Texans get the win. 10-6 season. There you go!


If we have two studs at WR that will definetley help make us more versitile. Maybe even open up the running game more and let Davis go crazy. However, it could just turn the Texans into a primary pass offense if both are good enough and fast enough to outplay the defense. We'll see how it all pans out, I hope I am wrong about the playoff thing, that would be awsome.

Texans will never go to a primary passing game, not even 65/35 in favor of passing. Dom Capers is the head coach. He's conservative and he'll run the ball. Great blocking by the OL and this team is set on offense. Good penetration on defense, the defense is set. I am not worried. 10-6!

[Tribe4SF]

Mathis will produce for you at WR, but as a return man he will have a huge impact. This kid is electric. If they can teach him to field punts, watch out.

[TexasTerror]

Mathis will produce for you at WR, but as a return man he will have a huge impact. This kid is electric. If they can teach him to field punts, watch out.

Well, anything is an improvement. Question is, will it be him, the incumbent JJ Moses, Swinton or Buchanon? Jabar Gaffney also saw times returning last season.

Moses was great in the fact he maybe fumbled once in all his years as the returner for the Texans. Well liked by the team and community. Really wasn't all that good other than that.

[TexasTerror]

Mathis is getting as much coverage as the #1 pick by the Texans, Travis Johnson. This is something different and unexpected. He's really impressing. We'll see if he can keep this up through training camp in July. The below comes from the Texans' web site.
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Catch him if you can
By Carter Toole
HoustonTexans.com

As supercross motorcycles sped across the bridge into Reliant Stadium for their event Saturday, a different set of wheels was on display across the street inside the Texans’ practice bubble.

Forrest Gump’s got nothing on Jerome Mathis. The Texans were banking on that when they picked Mathis in the fourth round of last weekend’s draft. He’s done nothing to dispute that notion in rookie mini-camp.

“Every practice we’ve had, he’s run by somebody and caught a deep ball,” head coach Dom Capers said.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/news_detail.php?PRKey=1669

[Tribe4SF]

Mathis put on a clinic returning kicks vs. W&M in the playoffs last year.

"* Jerome Mathis, 5-10, 180, Senior, Wide Receiver/Kick Returner, Hampton vs William & Mary, Petersburg, Va.
Mathis helped Hampton nearly pull off a playoff upset with his kick returning and receiving in a 42-35 first-round playoff loss to No. 3 seed William & Mary Saturday at Williamsburg, Va. Mathis piled up a school-record 394 all-purpose yards, 93 of them on a kickoff return for a touchdown that gave Hampton a 21-14 lead in the third quarter. William & Mary kicker Greg Kuehn drilled the kickoff out of bounds, but rather than take the ball on the Pirate 35 on the penalty, Hampton surprised befuddled officials by asking the Tribe to kickoff again. Mathis gathered the second kick at the seven, made a couple of cuts and sailed into the end zone for his fifth kickoff return touchdown of the season, a I-AA record. Mathis, I-AA leading kickoff returner, had four kick returns in all for 166 yards and made six catches for 188 yards and two more touchdowns. Mathis scored in the first quarter on an 80-yard connection with quarterback Princeton Shepherd that made it 14-0 and again in the third period from 43 yards out to make it 28-21. Mathis had also set up Hampton’s first score with a 45-yard reception that got the ball to the Tribe six."

I-AA.org All-Stars This Week 11/27/04
http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=64149

He also rushed for 40 yards on a couple of end-arounds. Joe Taylor did a masterful job of using Mathis' skills against us. Laycock said after the game that "we were just hoping to corral him to the sidelines when he had the ball".
The only other I-AA player I've seen impact a game like that was Brian Westbrook when we played Villanova in 2001. It is a rare treat to watch a player who you honestly believe may score every time he touches the ball.

[blackfordpu]

How can you say they are still growing? They are still growing, but they are mature enough in the process to win. This is not the Cleveland Browns expansion efforts, this is the Charley Casserly-led effort. He's got the pieces in that he needs. More depth than ever. If the Texans stay healthy and the running game evolves, there is NO reason this team does not get a wild card.

Think of the schedule this year. They'll get second in the AFC South, no question there, but they could very well go 4-2 in division this year and make some noise, especially playing a weak NFC West division (let's say going 3-1). AFC North should atleast be a 2-2 split. Your talking 9-5 at that point. Your other two foes are Kansas City and Buffalo. I like playing KC on ESPN. Texans get the win. 10-6 season. There you go!



Texans will never go to a primary passing game, not even 65/35 in favor of passing. Dom Capers is the head coach. He's conservative and he'll run the ball. Great blocking by the OL and this team is set on offense. Good penetration on defense, the defense is set. I am not worried. 10-6!

I hope you are right. I have not had the chance to see the schedule for the upcoming season yet so I dont know who our opponents are.
:)

I believe that the Texans may favor better if they went to a primary pass offense. With the weapons of Carr, Johnson and now Mathis it has the potential to be the best in the league.

[TexasTerror]

You can't be good at passing if you can't run the ball. The Texans have a consistent 1000 yard running back in Domanick Davis who in my opinion with the new blocking scheme that the OLine finally got down at the end of year, can get 1500 yards without a problem. And you have to realize, this is Dom Capers. No chance in holy heck that we see a primary-pass offense. It's going to be a conservative offense and that means a battle of field position with running and those short swing passes (as we've seen with Domanick Davis in the past) being the consistent.