To be fair, you have to have a defense like LSU or Alabama to even have that possibility of having a bunch of strips....as several analysts have correctly said, Mathieu benefitted greatly being on a defense where if he took a chance, someone else would still make the tackle anyway. BTW, on the "greatest single effort on any play", I agree with the game but not the player. The best play I have ever seen in my life was Odell Beckham turning a routine 15 yard pass reception, literally running from one side of the field to the other and with maybe 1 block total on the play that mattered, he made about 7 players miss him and most of their underwear had to be picked up from the field, and wouldn't have been down in touch football because I don't believe he was ever touched. As far as Mathieu's play, I thought it was fine but give a lot of credit to Ron Brooks for starting to tackle the QB allowing Mathieu to hit the ball out of his hands. My favorite TM play and to me much more impressive is this one. Remember the punt that was made in the West Virginia game by Wing down near the goal line? TM comes in, wraps up the ball carrier at that point, strips the ball from the punt returner at the same time, and runs into the end zone. I'm not sure if the ball ever even touched the ground...might have been one bounce. On that play he made the tackle, the strip, and then the short TD run.
Peterson also gave up what turned out to be the key TD in the Penn State game by biting on a pump fake. Before he was drafted, several analysts said that Peterson would be even better as a pro than college. His perceived weakness in college was that "he bit" on pump fakes, came off his man to try to help out, etc. He gave up I believe a similar play in the Miss State game where he bit on a halfback pass or something. As far as Mathieu, he was burnt in both the Tennessee and 2nd Alabama games. That is the only way it can be said. He gave up 2 long passes in the TN with a backup QB playing and the WR being inexperienced and he also got called for pass interference (the 15 yard variety). In the 2nd Alabama game, the couple of long passes completed in that game...and the guy was behind him. This does not make him dog food, and I'm not saying that and I'm guessing neither is ESPN. Is Mathieu overrated as a cover CB? Hell yeah, he is! Like I said, I would say last year he was the 3rd best cover CB on the LSU team and even this year, IMO he is behind Simon unless TM improves dramatically. Bottom line: the Bednarik award is to the best defensive player, NOT the best cornerback. That is the Jim Thorpe award which Claiborne won. My guess is that Mathieu has a chance to repeat as the Bednarik winner, but has 0 chance to be the Jim Thorpe winner.
Peterson was just an aggressive corner. Mo's problem, which was a minute one, was that he seemed to fall down every now and then, almost every reception completed against him was because he fell. The only long touchdown pass thrown on us last year was from Florida, and Mo fell on the sideline making the dude completely open. But back to the original statement, so you think that Mathieu wouldn't be half the player he is if not for the rest of LSU's defense? You do realize our linebackers last year pretty much sucked right? Mathieu was making those plays his freshman year too. To be able to find the ball, strip it, relocate it, and recover all in about 2 seconds or less is ridiculously hard, and this guy has done it how many times?
First, kudos to you for describing PERFECTLY the Peterson problem and the Claiborne problem. I have a theory on the Claiborne situation but am not a resident of BR so maybe you could help. You are spot on with the Claiborne situation and falling down near the sidelines. But I have noticed issues with several players near the sidelines at TS during games and losing their footing. Here is my X-Files theory!! I'm assuming BR gets a lot of rain in September, etc. Does the LSU tarp go PAST the playing field (sideline) ! I'm wondering if the water is getting in near the sidelines and even though the field is I assume covered before rains, that the tarp simply doesn't go far enough thus making the footing treacherous along the sidelines...for Claiborne, for everyone. I just notice a ton of slips near the sidelines in games and not many near the center of the field. I agree with your LSU LBers point. In fact, I like Kevin Minter and Baker was OK. After that, Hatcher was HORRIBLE. Francois was BAD. Jones and Barrow were simply too green. But LSU still had the best secondary in the country EVEN WHEN Mathieu was suspended. Brooks come in for him and returns a Pick 6 against Auburn. Also, LSU's DL was one of the best which is why in 2 games against LSU, Richardson really didn't do that much except one meaninghless TD at the end of the NC game. So yeah, I and several analysts including Robert Smith who I think is one of the two best ESPN guys (along with Jesse Palmer) has stated that Mathieu benefits from KNOWING that he can take a chance and do strips, go for the QB's arm, etc. You really don't think a guy from Kentucky or Louisiana Tech or Texas A&M could take that chance with their defenses right? That does NOT take away from his ultimate result but quite frankly, few players in college football would even be allowed to do that. Because if you take a chance and miss, it could cost you a TD.
Yeah we have been blessed with so much depth in the defense backfield of late it's been ridiculous. And I agree with you, Mathieu does get to take alot of chances because of the other outstanding players on defense, there is no doubt. But.... In the past we have seen great defenses, some that were just flat out dominant, that had that one guy that was allowed to just throw himself out there with reckless abandon, and I have never seen anyone make plays like he does. Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Deion Sanders, I've never seen them make as many plays like he has. I mean an interception is one thing, but to be able to take the ball away from someone when it's in their hands, locating and recovering, this guy is the best.
I see the wink so I assume you are kidding but I actually think you have hit on the right strategy against him. Probably a majority of people don't think he is an outstanding corner/cover guy. Yet that same majority thinks he is an incredible defensive "pest" (meant in a complimentary way). So what I would do is to challenge the guy by throwing to the WR he is covering. First, you probably have a better chance of completing a pass against him than say a Claiborne (last season) or a Simon. Second, unless he does the tackle, strip, and run deal, you don't have to worry about your WR being tackled by one guy and then having Mathieu come off his coverage and strip the ball. This is exactly the same principle as how to attack a very fast, very good DL. Most people say just accept that the guy is good and run straight at him. The worst thing to do is try to run away from the guy because you play to his strengths. Same principle here...play to TM's relatively weaker coverage ability compared to his defensive playmaker ability coming to the play later.
YOU think he was the 3rd best cover corner, but apparently the coaches don't. Simon played a lot...but when did he mostly play? When TM7 was moved inside to the nickle. If two corners were in the game playing coverage, it was Mo and TM7. Not Mo and Simon. Using 4 or 5 plays over the course of the season to sell a guy as overrated is completely unfair. In relation to the number of times he DIDN'T give up long pass plays or TDs. And in actuality, did anyone catch a TD on him last year? Maybe, but I don't recall it happening. I'll give you the TN game, but you're still underestimating how great those throws and catches were in that Bama game. Everything was perfect. Even in their hip pocket, which in his recovery he was right there, he wasn't stopping those plays. The only reason Mo would've is because he's 4 inches taller than TM7. His true weakness is height. He is not a liability in coverage. No corner stops every play. Receivers even make plays on Revis Island...Randy Moss abused him. Mike Wallace ate his ass up. But he's still the best cover guy in the league. It happens. None of those guys will ever be perfect.
LSU played so much 5 DB/S that it didn't matter who started. That was due to having great secondary guys/probably the best in the country and what most people would admit (even most LSU fans I suspect) were LBers that clearly were the Achilles heel of the defense if it had one. And once again and it has been discussed ad nauseum here, there is more to playing CB than covering WRs. If you can cause fumbles, that is a big deal too. But as I remember, neither Simon nor Mathieu had many INTs (each had 2 I think). Mathieu made his name on defense with stripping the ball, not pass interceptions. And even with LSU playing a tough schedule in general, they still played Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Northwestern State). Obviously against those teams, you shouldn't give up hardly any TDs period because let's face it, their offenses stunk it up. I have no idea if TM gave up any TDs but take away the Oregon and W Virginia games and LSU didn't give up many TDs period on defense...not vs Ark, not vs Ala either time, not vs GA, not vs FL. TM had a nightmare TN game with 2 long completitions given up and the pass interference penalty against at best UT's 2nd best WR and a backup QB delivering the ball. And again, he did not have a good game in the 2nd Alabama game with the longer passes completed going right over him. I agree that height is a problem but that still counts right? I never said he was a liability in coverage. I said if they are talking pass coverage only, he was no better than the 3rd best CB last season on the LSU team with clearly Claiborne way above him and IMO Simon above him also. And BTW, overrated takes into account not only how good you are but how much hype you get. The more the hype, the better you have to be to earn that. And once again, an eye opening example was the Auburn game. TM didn't even play and did you notice 1 iota of dropoff in LSU's defense? I certainly didn't and I especially didn't notice it when Ron Brooks took an INT near the sideline and ran it back 30 yards for a pick 6.
