Philadelphia Eagles Draft: 5 Combine Prospects To Watch

Joe Mathis, DE, Washington

Another important aspect of the Combine: medical rechecks. Those medical evaluations were actually the Combine’s original purpose. That’s why it was created.

Through the process, players have to go through multiple bone, muscle, and joint examinations with all 32 NFL teams. Every previous injury will be meticulously scrutinized numerous times over; MRI and X-ray images across multiple years will be distributed for further investigation; blood and urine tests will be taken.

Some players with injuries long-since forgotten will lose stock if the healing process didn’t go perfectly. Other players will learn about physical issues they didn’t even know they had. Even more still, like Joe Mathis, will have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have fully recovered from their in-season injury and can contribute at training camp.

Before electing to have season-ending surgery on his foot, Mathis strung together a solid senior campaign, with 7.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks over 6 games. On his tape you see a complete edge defender against the run and the pass, a player just scratching the surface of his pass-rush potential, and a freak athlete.

If the Philadelphia Eagles believe in Mathis’ recovery, he’s a dynamic edge defender who could be had at a discount price due to his injury history. And if Mathis is behind in the healing process, he’ll fall even further down boards. Should the Eagles nab a hampered Mathis, DE Vinny Curry could start in the beginning of the season, while Mathis continued to heal without a timeline, entering the defensive end rotation only once healthy.