INDIANAPOLIS — Jeff Mathews has lived this day before. He has pictured the inside of Lucas Oil Stadium. He has envisioned himself running, throwing and jumping as NFL coaches, scouts and general managers look on.
Now, it’s here.
Mathews, a four-year starting quarterback at Cornell, is one of 335 players at the NFL Scouting Combine trying to impress. Sunday is the day for quarterbacks to go through their on-field work at the Combine. Mathews will be alongside players like Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater, who are projected as top draft picks.
“I’ve been working that day in my mind over and over. That’s what we’ve prepared for,” Mathews said. “I feel very confident in the times I’m going to run. Throwing is just going out there and throwing to receivers, and I’ve done that plenty in my career. I think the focus on that is I’ve done it. I know what I’m capable of. and I just have to show it to the people who are watching that day, regardless of who that is.”
There are 19 quarterbacks at the Combine — all with varying degrees of questions about them. For Mathews, the main questions revolve around playing in the Ivy League. When teams evaluate him, they are doing so knowing he played against inferior college competition.
At the Combine, Mathews can be measured alongside quarterbacks viewed as the best in college football. In an effort to have an even greater chance to show teams what he is capable of he agreed to be one of the “throwing” quarterbacks here, meaning he’s the one delivering the passes to the wide receivers, running backs and tight ends during their drills. So while Manziel and Bridgewater chose not to throw here, Mathews opted to throw more.
“I was invited initially just as a quarterback for the Combine,” he said. “Probably three weeks ago, they said teams requested you to be a throwing quarterback, would you like to do that? The answer was simple. Any time you get to throw more, it’s an easy answer. I can show what I’ve got for three more days. It’s a great opportunity.”
For Mathews, Sunday is the next stop in a process that began long ago. He starred at Camarillo High School in California, but received no scholarship offers. He had to travel to Ithaca to get a shot at playing college football for the Big Red. He opened eyes as soon as he got to the Cornell campus and became a four-year starter. He holds 45 school and 17 Ivy League records.
As a senior, he threw 22 touchdown passes, 13 interceptions and for nearly 3,000 yards. This semester he is taking independent study and online courses so he can prepare for the draft. He spent the past eight weeks at Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, N.J., working with former NFL quarterback Chris Simms.
Mathews participated in the East West Shrine Game in January and wowed scouts with his arm strength and passing touch. The biggest knock on his game is his footwork, something he is working to improve.
Scouts see Mathews as a late-round pick or a top free agent if he goes undrafted. Mathews saw his friend and former college teammate J.C. Tretter get drafted by the Packers in the fourth round last year.
Mathews is confident he will get picked.
“I think I will,” he said. “Obviously, there are concerns, but I believe in myself and my abilities and I understand the concerns that are out there. I played in the Ivy League, not a lot of quarterbacks or skilled players come out of there, and we weren’t as successful as we would have liked to be. I understand the concerns, but that’s why I’m here. It doesn’t matter where I am or who I’m competing against — whether it’s the combine or the East-West Shrine Game or eventually, hopefully, in the NFL — I’ll compete against anybody and show what I have. I believe in my abilities. … Hopefully over the next couple of months teams will believe that too.”