Sandy Hook (CT) Newtown FB/LB Ben Mason (image via News Times)
Sandy Hook (CT) Newtown fullback/linebacker committed to Michigan on Tuesday evening. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Boston College, Cal, Duke, Pitt, Rutgers, and Wisconsin, among others.
Mason is listed at 6’2″, 247 lbs. and ran a 4.88 forty. As a junior in 2015, he made 113 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 interceptions.
RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: 3-star ILB
Scout: 3-star, #32 ILB
247 Sports: 3-star, #28 ILB, #765 overall
Hit the jump for more on Mason’s commitment.
Mason wasn’t on the recruiting radar much before he visited Ann Arbor on April 12. He picked up an offer from the Wolverines on the visit, and immediately Michigan seemed to jump to the forefront of his recruitment. A visit to Wisconsin also resulted in an offer, but the Badgers couldn’t overtake Michigan. When he set his announcement date for May 3, the expectation became the end result.
Mason is a player who could legitimately play several different positions in college, from fullback to tight end to defensive end to inside linebacker. Offensively, he looks like a fullback. He’s a dogged, devastating blocker who keeps his feet moving through contact and looks like he cherishes contact. When he runs the ball, he keeps his shoulders square to the line and runs behind his pads without much shimmy or shake. He catches the ball well out of the backfield, and he actually shows some pretty good route running nuance for such a big guy. Defensively, he looks like a defensive end to me. He’s fundamentally sound when he plays linebacker, diagnosing plays fairly well and keeping his shoulders square to the ball carrier. He flashes some ability to blitz and could be tough for opposing running backs to handle in pass protection. He’s also stoutly built and could handle a bit more weight to be a weakside end type of player.
What Mason lacks is quick-twitch athleticism. He’s somewhat stiff and does not change direction very well, which is why it’s important that he plays fundamentally sound football. He has a bit of an odd frame, with what looks like a more developed upper body with a relatively short lower body and narrower waist. The frame screams fullback to me. The mediocre athleticism concerns me on defense a little bit, where he’s probably a two-down linebacker who would not be an asset in pass coverage at middle linebacker. I would also have some concerns about him playing defensive end, because his frame might max out before he reaches a playable weight to hold up against opposing offensive tackles. I’m afraid that he would be limited by length and athleticism at end, relegating him to backup status.
Overall, Mason is a very curious prospect for Michigan to take this early in the process. He wants to play linebacker, but rumors have trickled out that he – like David Reese and Chase Lasater before him – is more desired at fullback. Michigan does just as much with fullbacks as anyone in the country, but the Wolverines seem to have a hard time recruiting someone who actually wants to play fullback in college. I like Mason as a fullback. I think he is limited at linebacker. I think he would potentially get buried on the depth chart at defensive end.
Michigan now has 12 commits in the class of 2017. Three are running backs and two (Lasater and Mason) are potential fullbacks. Three are potential linebackers (Joshua Ross, Lasater, and Mason). I would not expect any more fullback types in the class, because one of these guys virtually has to end up there sooner or later. Michigan’s viable fullbacks are all entering at least their fourth year on campus, including walk-on Bobby Henderson (RS Sr.), Khalid Hill (RS Jr.), Henry Poggi (RS Jr.), and Wyatt Shallman (RS Jr.), and each of them is a somewhat awkward fit except Henderson, who will be gone by the time Lasater/Mason hit campus. Hill is a tight end by trade, Poggi is a 6’4″ defensive lineman, and Shallman wants to be a tailback. The class should reach at least 20, with a good chance of going well above that number. Michigan does not recruit the state of Connecticut heavily, and the last player from the Nutmeg State was offensive lineman Todd Mossa in the late 1990s/early 2000s. It’s not a state with powerhouse football programs, though Michigan has attempted to recruit a few players from there in recent years.
TTB Rating: 74 (ratings explanation)
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May not be an ideal LB but he seems to fit the mold of what Brown wants at MLB if you look at what he had at BC and Mbem-Bosse from 2016.
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I wonder if Don Brown is still adjusting to being at a top program like Michigan … meaning, a player like Mason would be a very good prospect for BC, but Brown has yet to fully appreciate he can do better here at Michigan?
Not trying to put Mason down … just wondering about how someone like Brown, who spent so many years at lower-tier programs.
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It takes a whole staff to recruit a player. If the other coaches weren’t on board, Mason wouldn’t have been pursued. It’s a possibility that Brown pushed hard for Mason because he hasn’t adjusted, but keep in mind that these players are coming in with an opportunity to play linebacker but being open to other positions. Remember when Cam Gordon was recruited with a shot to play wide receiver? He spent one year at WR and then switched to safety/linebacker, which was his best fit. Sometimes this is just the way you have to recruit for undesirable positions. Very few elite high school athletes want to play FB as their dream position. It’s a spot that players often have to be coaxed into playing.
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Why? Why are we spending so many scholarships in this class on mediocre, 3 star projects? This recruiting class does not, by any stretch of the imagination, project to elite status in 3-4 years compared to what programs like OSU are bringing in. But if we want to be a perennial 9-3 team and always looking up at the top 10, this is the way to go about it.
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The short answer is that we need fullbacks. As discussed in the post, we have few options going forward. All the viable players will either be graduated or entering their fifth year in 2017 when Mason/Lasater get on campus. It’s an important position for Harbaugh’s offense, so we need scholarship bodies there. It’s great if you can develop walk-ons like Kerridge, but you have to give scholarships at the position if you want the very best guys. If both of them remain in the class, I would guess that at least one becomes the starting fullback a couple years down the road. Maybe the other disappears or plays LB/DE, but throwing out two scholarships to get one starting fullback isn’t a terrible rate.
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Leaving aside the fact that having a fullback in the offense at all is a waste (it’s basically just another blocker that gives the defense one less thing to really worry about), you can always find a few failed players at other positions to do what our fullbacks do. Spending more than 1 scholarship in 4 years on specific recruits for the position is needless.
How many perennial top ten teams can you name that use a fullback the way we do, with that silly shuffle behind the line of scrimmage, as if we’re being so clever and deceptive about where the play is going? It’s a tired and outdated offensive concept that I wish we would just abandon completely. Really good offenses are really good without it.
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Wow!!!!!
That’s just an incredible amount of dumb crammed into two short paragraphs. Let’s see, just for starters, you say, “Leaving aside the fact that having a fullback in the offense at all is a waste (it’s basically just another blocker that gives the defense one less thing to really worry about) … ”
Because defenses never have to worry about more blockers than defenders at the point of attack.
Then we move on to the entirety of the second paragraph in which you demonstrate such a profound lack of understanding of football that I am forced to conclude that you are simply trolling here as nobody in America with all of the relentless exposure to football can possibly be that blatantly ignorant of the game.
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You’re wrong … four wide and an empty backfield is the key to the rings. Ask Mike Leach. 🙂
I’m no X’s and O’s guy … but I can put my wet finger in the air and get a sense for the direction of things. My sense is the game is shifting away from “pure” spread to some mix of spread and power. I’ll leave it to smarter people than me (who are legion) to explain it in terms of X’s and O’s.
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Feel free to list for me all of the top offensive teams last year that use a fullback in the silly way we do. For all of your condescension, I doubt you’ll have much success.
And ignorance about football? Sheesh..pot, meet kettle. Rather than sticking to the Lloyd Carr principle of telegraphing every play so that an 8 year old knows what’s coming, and relying on brute force at the “point of attack” how about giving the defense no idea where they need to be, and giving them more actual playmakers to worry about than battering rams? I know, what a radical concept.
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The point is to win football games. If Harbaugh wins football games with five wide receivers, I’m okay with it. If he wins with a wishbone offense, I’m okay with it. Harbaugh doubled Michigan’s win total in one year. Texas Tech had the #2 offense in the country and went 7-6. I’ll take a 10-3 record in the Big Ten over a 7-6 record in the Big 12.
Harbaugh is a pro-style offense guy. Take away his fullbacks and tight ends, and maybe he doesn’t win double-digit games. He is who he is. It was silly for people to suggest that Rich Rodriguez should run a pro-style offense, and it’s silly to tell Harbaugh to run Ohio State’s offense. Each coach has his strengths, and this is part of Harbaugh’s strength. It’s why we hired him. We didn’t hire him to run a zone read option-based or Air Raid-based offense.
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An offense with a fullback is the optimal choice for our highly successful coach. He shouldn’t be begrudged fullbacks any more than a spread coach should be begrudged more wide receivers.
Our current fullbacks are sort of failed players (or depth players) at other positions. I don’t think they’re ideal fits. Regardless, if you want to look at it that way, picture these guys as future failed linebackers. Will Paul, Obi Oluigbo, etc. were moved from other positions. These guys are coming in as mildly touted LBs, and at least one will be a solid starting FB someday. I’m okay with that.
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Sorry, but I must have missed the “highly successful” part. Harbaugh has one season as a major college coach that you could call great, and that’s all. He has no conference championships as a major college coach.
If he wants a big stable of fullbacks, fine and dandy, but if he ever manages to win anything that matters here, it will be in spite of them, not because of them.
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Well, I suppose you can take away his excellent Stanford turnaround, his 10-win season in year one at Michigan following a 5-7 year, and his NFC Championship experience at 49ers. If you take all that way, he’s a mediocre coach.
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“Cherishes contact”, “dogged, devastating blocker who keeps his feet moving through contact”. He has a frame that “screams fullback” to some people. We run power schemes and use fullbacks a lot.
“He catches the ball well out of the backfield, and he actually shows some pretty good route running nuance for such a big guy.” We like to throw it to the fullback some.
To quote Ben Mason,. “I just want to play football, I really don’t care what position.” I think it’s Laster who wants to grow up to be an LB. I kind of agreed with Reece.
You just picked up two physically mature fullback types that love to hit people just in time to replenish a position that you use a lot, requires the above attributes and that has absolutely nobody coming back to play.
As an aside, one of your “mediocre” RB recruits, AJ Dillon just got picked for “The Opening” and St. Juste, who I am on record here of wondering about myself, just tested out quite nicely for just about anybody, but particularly a 6’3″ CB
Furthermore, if you can’t see on film that two other “mediocre 3 star” prospects, Woods and Paea are both way a cut above as athletes and have a chance to be really good college football players, the problem is yours.
Finally, your language is both ignorant and unkind.
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The point is not whether any of these guys will ever be good players. What a silly straw man. I’m sure some of them will be. The point is, the guys that OSU is landing are likely to be BETTER players. Those guys have even higher accolades than you’re listing for Mason.
And wow…he “just wants to play football”! Guess that makes him a sure winner.
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The guys at Ohio State might be better at other positions, but they’re not being recruited for fullbacks. Our fullbacks are better than theirs. It’s a position, whether you like it or not.
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Sorry, but show me the last team to win anything important because they had better fullbacks than anyone else.
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Then I guess we should fire Harbaugh.
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Oh, you mean like “dumb”, “troll” and “ignorant”?
Pot..meet kettle again. I was talking football. You’re the one who started in with personal attacks and insults, dude.
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I put extra effort in on this site to mitigate my language because i know that i can be, lets just say for purposes of discussion ….. sharp. In your particular case, dumb, ignorant and troll were all that were available to me since your positions are ridiculous to the point of indefensible to any, even mildly sophisticated watcher of football. This is easily corroborated by the down voting you consistently earn.
What’s worse, in your particular case, is the consistent demonstration within your posts that you are a guy that doesn’t even know that or what you doesn’t even know, and as such are beyond redemption. This has been aptly demonstrated in your past inability to comprehend options available for tight ends, fullbacks now and in an absolutely magnificent demonstration of just flat out pure defense mechanism ignorance, your attack on Jim Harbaugh’s record as a head coach.
Your position has become so epic in it’s knee jerk mindlessness that you have now degenerated into the realm of laughable, dumbass troll. I had a modicum of respect for your trolling earlier this morning and shared my opinion with a friend who knows me to be Roanman, that you are likely just some bored to tears Illini troll with little to live for but for some talent for trolling. Now I just think your a banal twit.
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you’re
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I’m looking down this thread and I still don’t see one word of factual rebuttal to anything I’ve said. All you’re able to do is double down on snark and insults, with zilch to back it up. I challenged you to point to one elite offense last year that uses a fullback in the silly way that we do. You failed.
And for the record, I’ve been a Michigan fan for 45 years, so take your accusations of trolling and go fuck yourself.
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I liked the return to use of power and the FB. I particularly like to have someone able to rip off a few yards like Houma and can also catch the ball out of the backfield.If they can lead block or protect the QB I am down for that too.
I like athletes and/or guys who can show skills or deliver the pain from more than one position.
I am guessing the TTB ranking was done as a FB?
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Yes, I’m rating him as a FB. His rating would have been lower at LB or DE.
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Well, this is why I don’t like upvotes and downvotes. The conversation has turning into MGoBlog with, “If you’re a true fan, you can only speak nice things about the kids”-type of website. We may not agree with WindyCityBlue says but can’t we at least understand what he’s trying to say? He’s comparing apples to apples. Other successful schools, such as OSU, are concentrating on the big-time recruits now and these types of players toward the latter part of the recruiting stages. I kind of agree. Harbaugh may be setting himself up for more bad publicity when he runs low on available scholarships and does a “Swenson” on another recruit. I think Mason is the type you offer at the end of a recruiting cycle, when he already may be committed to a lesser program, and put the pressure on then. Since FB’s aren’t recruited heavily anyway, the good ones would salivate to join Harbaugh in January or February.
Finally, I’m concerned about the satellite camps. Harbaugh will put out a few offers in June again to some of these 2-3 star types and they will probably gobble up another 3-4 scholarships. I admire Harbaugh for everything he is but I believe Michigan is getting to the point where we start to target the best early and settle late if needed. (commence the downvotes).
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I think upvotes/downvotes generally tell you whether you have a good idea or not.
Anyway, as for this particular recruit, I would be interested in people’s views on how we should recruit fullbacks. If Mason were a 3-star kicker, we probably wouldn’t be up in arms over him committing. Since there aren’t many 4- and 5-star fullbacks, I don’t see where you think we’re going to get them, unless we count on failures at other positions…and those guys don’t always make great fullbacks. Obi Oluigbo was a failed linebacker and a decent blocker, but he wasn’t much of an offensive threat. Henry Poggi is kind of a failed defensive lineman, and he offers virtually nothing on offense except blocking ability.
If we don’t take a 3-star FB now, we’ll be taking a 3-star FB in December or January. What’s the difference?
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As noted, the problem is not just taking one 3 star fullback. Every team takes a few guys like that. The problem is that our 2017 class has too many mediocre recruits compared to the teams we’re competing against. We have a high profile coach who got a lot of attention for improving our record last year and landing some big recruits. So where is the momentum from that? Why are we already back to settling for second tier guys, while OSU is cleaning up?
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I don’t think our recruits are that subpar, compared to the teams we’re competing against. You seem to be talking mainly about Ohio State. Ohio State is two years removed from a national championship, had a very good season in 2015, and just put 12 dudes in the NFL Draft with one of the best drafts in history. If we compare ourselves to OSU in almost any facet, we’re going to come out behind. I agree that better recruits are better, but we’re not going to beat Ohio State by getting higher rated recruits. We’re going to have to beat Ohio State by developing players, and THEN we’ll get better recruits. They are Usain Bolt, and we are part of the field. It doesn’t mean we’re bad sprinters. Usain Bolt is just awesome.
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OSU is absolutely the bar and I don’t think Harbaugh or Bo would say otherwise.
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Good idea or not? I don’t think so. Popular isn’t the same as good.
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The difference to me, at least, is that by January or December you have a pretty good idea where you stand scholarships and the types of players you may be getting. If you have a 4/5-star player still wavering you can keep that scholarship available. The FB prospects (like Mason) would still take a last-minute scholarship or may even consider grey-shirting.
Finally, fullback is not a “natural athlete”-type position. There’s a plethora of semi-athletic, hard-hitting high school football players that can learn to block and catch a short pass. There aren’t a lot of 290 lb, quick twitch DL prospects that are available. I’d rather put efforts toward getting those types on scholarship first and have Harbaugh and staff coach/teach a kid how to become a fullback.
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I think that skirts around the idea that this offense still needs fullbacks, preferably quality ones. Yes, it would be nice to have 5- and 4-star players wanting to commit in January, but that doesn’t help the FB position. If it’s going to be a highlighted position, you need to recruit for it. You can’t just ignore it and then count on someone like Henry Poggi to be your full-time FB. You say that there’s a plethora of semi-athletic, hard-hitting players in high school, but they’re going to get scholarships now or in January. I don’t see the difference.
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There has been a lot of negative comments on the recruitment of Ben Mason. I think most are unwarranted. I have nothing but a big warm welcome to Ben Mason to UM. Having said that, don’t you think that having 3 recruits to play the Inside Line Backer / Fullback position in one class is one too many? This is a position that most NFL teams tend not to draft until late in the draft. Shouldn’t UM set aside more scholarships for “premium” position like OL and Pass Rushers?
I have a feeling that at least one of these 3 gentlemen will not be attending UM come signing day (ala David Reese last year). If this becomes a recurring theme, then I believe the recruitment process (not the players or players’ potential) ought to be criticized.
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I like him too. Positional flexibility, albeit not at the 4* level is still a nice luxury to have. With these three “similar” guys committing you almost wonder if Harbaugh knows something (attrition after this year?) that we don’t know so he’s trying to be proactive.
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The point is not that Ben Mason is worthless as a player or is a bad person or any such thing. But he is part of a very worrisome pattern in this recruiting cycle. Our class is overloaded with 3 stars, while OSU has a lot more 4 stars. That’s a recipe for perennial also-ran status. Yes, some of those 3 stars may get better. So may some of their 4 stars. That still leaves us looking up at them for the forseeable future. And no, every 4 star is not guaranteed to be better than every 3 star, but overall, it’s been proven beyond any rational doubt that you’ll be more successful the more highly rated your recruits are on average. On top of which Meyer has a proven record of getting as much out of his recruits as anyone. Harbaugh is not going to outcoach him and win with second tier recruits.
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I think this discussion is somewhat misplaced in regard to Mason, though. If you want to talk about Benjamin St-Juste or Carter Dunaway or Phillip Paea in this manner (too many 3-stars!), then I get it. But when we recruit a 3-star fullback, I don’t understand getting upset.
It’s a fair argument, but it’s coming at an odd time.
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Mason just happens to be the latest symptom of the problem. Whatever position he ends up at, he’s another less than elite athlete in a class that already has too many guys like that. We’re back to doing the 3-star shuffle every time a new recruit is announced and people try to not look less than excited.
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“Whatever position he ends up at, he’s another less than elite athlete in a class that already has too many guys like that.”
Unless he ends up at fullback, where he’ll be a solid player. If you’re looking for elite athletes at fullback, you’re going to come up empty. They all run slow forties and don’t have 39″ verticals. This is where I think there’s a disconnect. You’re complaining about Mason, but then you say Mason’s not the issue.
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Seems like a very Harbaugh player. I’m not going to get caught up in the 3-star worries. Thunder is right that Harbaugh wants/needs these type of ‘program’ fit’ players. We’re not going to out-OSU OSU so we have to be Michigan. It’s a good thing that nobody (other than Stanford) has the identity we have. That is an advantage.
Players who support and fit into that identity will give us the edge. Still need to get the Peppers, Garys, and McCaffreys out there, but ALSO have to get the program guys that provide an identity. So we don’t need a 5-star ranked player for every spot but we need the 5-star role players who can block every down as a 2nd TE, come hard on a pull from H-back, and destroy blocks from ILB. Mason fits the mold of the physicality that Harbaugh wants the program to have.
I don’t mean to say Harbaugh is above questioning, I’ve done it myself, but his track record is as good as it gets and I think trusting his judgement is pretty warranted in cases like this.
Sad coincidence that both Mason and Lasater experienced great tragedy due to gun violence as children. Between that and Forsythe (visiting OL recruit whose dad died in a mass shooting) it seems like a common thread right now on the TTB front page.
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I haven’t responded to your particular question about other top programs using fullbacks like we do because of course there is no offense exactly like Harbaugh’s just as there is no offense exactly like Urban Meyer’s, Nick Saban’s, Les Miles’ or anybody else that you can possibly name. Jumbo Fisher’s offense was for a minute exactly like Nick Saban’s because Jimbo Fisher was for a time Saban’s OC and was reputed to be his favorite OC. But, that is no longer the case as the second Fisher left Alabama, Saban’s offense changed, then it changed again, then one more time with the addition of Kiffen. In truth, your question is possibly the single most ignorant point you’ve attempted to make here today. And that’s saying’ something.
As I have attempted to explain to you in the past, a different offensive look is a good thing. An offense like everybody else’s is a bad thing. This is the case if only because it makes you more difficult to prepare for. That you are unable to grasp this most simple of points was my first insight into the likelihood that you are completely ignorant of football. Frankly, why bother discussing extra running lanes and all the wonderful stuff you can do to people with various pulling packages in tandem with a big nasty FB when you can’t even grasp the absolutely baseline stuff.
If indeed you are a fan of 45 years, you really do need to start paying closer attention.
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