Draft. Mathieu participated at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine on February 26, 2013. He ran a 4.50 40-yard dash, had 4 reps of 225 pounds, a 34-inch vertical, and a 117-inch broad jump. He also later participated at his pro day on March 27, 2013. College statistics Professional career Prior to the 2012 season, Mathieu was ranked as the third best cornerback prospect in the upcoming 2013 NFL Draft by NFL analyst Chad Reuter. On November 29, 2012, Mathieu stated his intentions to enter the 2013 NFL Draft. Mathieu attended the NFL Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills. On March 28, 2013, Mathieu attended LSU's pro day, but chose to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He was projected to be a second or third round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Mathieu was ranked as the tenth best cornerback prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com. Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals selected Mathieu in the third round (69th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. Mathieu was the sixth safety drafted in 2013. On April 26, 2013, it was reported that Cardinals' head coach Bruce Arians stated that Mathieu would be playing free safety although it was widely expected he would play slot cornerback coming out of college. 2013 On May 23, 2013, the Arizona Cardinals signed Mathieu to a four-year, $3.05 million contract that included $817,187 guaranteed and a signing bonus of $265,000. Mathieu stated that he would remove himself from any association with his nickname, saying that he wants to be known as "Tyrann Mathieu" as opposed to "Honey Badger". (Over 6 years later in a week 17 postgame interview during the 2019 season, Mathieu indicated that he was satisfied that he'd established himself and was okay with the “Honey Badger” nickname.) Throughout training camp, Mathieu competed to be the first-team nickelback and starting free safety. He competed for a starting role at free safety against Yeremiah Bell and Rashad Johnson. Head coach Bruce Arians named Mathieu the backup free safety to begin the regular season, behind Rashad Johnson. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles also named him the first-team nickelback. He made his professional regular season debut in the Arizona Cardinals' season-opener at the St. Louis Rams and made seven solo tackles and made his first career forced fumble in their