Ochaun Mathis declares for NFL Draft
Ochaun Mathis, the ballyhooed Nebraska pass rusher, has declared for the NFL Draft.
He announced the move Friday on Twitter.
Considered a premium player in last year’s transfer-portal crop, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Mathis finished his only season at Nebraska with 50 tackles, including five tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He added six quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.
A native of Manor, Texas, Mathis played his best football late in the season. He made a sizable impact Nov. 5 against Minnesota, finishing with four tackles, including 1.5 TFLs and a half sack. He then made his first start as a Husker at No. 3 Michigan and finished with three tackles and a pair of quarterback hurries.
After recording a 13-yard sack against Wisconsin, Mathis had three tackles and three quarterback hurries against Iowa in the regular-season finale.
Mathis put up big numbers at TCU
He arrived at Nebraska after four seasons at TCU. He enjoyed a breakout 2020 campaign, starting all 10 games in the pandemic-shortened season and earning second-team All-Big 12 honors. He finished with nine sacks, which were the most by a Horned Frog in three seasons. He totaled 46 tackles overall with 14 TFLs, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
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Mathis came to Nebraska intent on boosting his NFL stock. On Nov. 29, he tweeted that he was leaning toward entering the draft but wanted to first confer with Mickey Joseph, who served as the Huskers’ interim head coach for the final nine games of this season.
Joseph no longer is part of the program.
With Mathis also officially out of the picture, Nebraska’s EDGE depth chart is highlighted by senior-to-be Garrett Nelson, who this season led the team with nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Redshirt freshmen Blaise Gunnerson and Jimari Butler played backup roles behind Nelson and Mathis.
EDGE defender Jimari Butler changes his mind, says he’ll stay at Nebraska
