BEN MASON has been moved back to the offense full time
I love this move. Now that we're finding our happy place between shotgun/pistol power running and spread passing concepts in the Gattisbaugh offense, there's clearly a place for BEN MASON. Also, you only have to look as far as John Harbaugh's team to see how a potent modern offense can use a fullback on 1/3 of their snaps.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:00 PM ^
BMFM.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
Source:
It was revealed today that #Michigan's Ben Mason has been moved back to offense full time.https://t.co/MoG39oDoH4
— TheWolverine.com (@TheWolverineMag) November 20, 2019
November 20th, 2019 at 11:16 PM ^
If needed he will go back. But apparently Jeter is back from injury, and Hinton is ready to play.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:09 PM ^
Smart! He couldn’t even hang against MTSU and Army West Point! Never should have been there. Dana and others were better options.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:06 PM ^
Yep, would have been much better off using a stout DE (that we apparently grow on trees) than Ben Mason at DT. What a head scratcher that decision was.
November 21st, 2019 at 5:55 AM ^
Had to be motivated by something other than who was the best DT. Maybe Harbuagh really wanted Mason to play somewhere, or maybe it was one sort of motivation ploy for the real DTs.
November 21st, 2019 at 7:36 AM ^
It wasn't that much of a head scratcher. Michigan didn't have many experienced DTs - we all saw that coming - and wanted to throw as many bodies at the position as possible. Now that Smith and Hinton have had time to develop and Jeter has had time to heal (apparently), he's not needed anymore. You can't just throw a "stout" DE in at DT, because that weakens your DE position. Luiji Vilain isn't ready to start. Michigan basically has three capable defensive ends (Hutchinson, Paye, Danna) to rotate, and then Uche is a quasi-DE/LB.
November 21st, 2019 at 9:14 AM ^
He was a body to be thrown at the position, but that's about it. He was undersized and over-matched, and that wasn't surprising in the least. It would have been a surprise if a guy who had never played the position and was too small to do so could actually contribute. Love the guy, and I'm sure he gave it everything, but that was just too big of an ask. If Wisconsin can get away with starting a true freshman NT, I'm a little surprised we wouldn't have had more success with Hinton vs Mason for some backup snaps. And I say that knowing that Hinton was really rocky in his limited action early on. But the bar wasn't very high - Mason struggled a lot as well, and he didn't offer the upside. Maybe if you suffer a lot of growing pains with Hinton in the first half of the year he would be prepared for a larger role now. Smith I understand not playing because they plan to redshirt him, but Hinton was playing STs all year.
November 21st, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
The real head scratcher was Jordan Glasgow at DT on the goal line vs. Wisconsin.
November 21st, 2019 at 11:06 AM ^
We had no depth with injuries earlier on and thought he'd see the most field time.
Mason isn't a DT but was wanted to hit people so he played there when we were short players. may have known out defense some by practicing against for years and been more ready playbook wise.
Glad to see it, should help redzone issues, so glad we kicked the fumble bug.
Fumbling every other possesion was unreal.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:12 PM ^
As long as he can do it in stride and protect the ball. No need in getting that "push" if he's just gonna drop the ball on the D line's backs.
November 20th, 2019 at 7:44 PM ^
I think the fumble earlier this year was pretty flukey. Wasn't it a helmet on the ball while he was stood up? He didn't have ball protection concerns last year, and he'll get more practice reps now. He legitimately causes defenses (LBs in particular) to hesitate in the gaps because of his hit power. That alone makes it worth using him.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:11 PM ^
He didn't touch the ball that much last year either.
He has 37 carries in this entire career. One fumble in 37 carries is not good. No need to give him the ball. Let him block on some plays, sure. Charbonnet is plenty good enough in short yardage that it would be insane to use Mason at TB.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:23 PM ^
Kareem Hunt never fumbled once in his career as a college athlete. His very first carry in an NFL game was a fumble, so he had one fumble on one carry. Sometimes you have to let the kids play. Fairly certain it was masons very first carry this year.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:56 PM ^
One fumble in 37 carries is not good. No need to give him the ball.
Sarcasm?
One career fumble isn't a trend, it's statistical noise.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:14 PM ^
Mason is not a weapon for the offense carrying the ball. He's on scholarship to block.He's a very good wrecking ball and that's about it.
I wouldn't take carries away from Haskins, ZC, or Tru. Never understood the Mason hype with almost no substance to back it up.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:22 PM ^
If you prefer one of the RBs to carry, OK.
But "almost no substance to back it up?" Mason rushed for seven TDs last year. He was fantastic in short yardage.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:10 PM ^
aw let it go. by his math Mason hurdles dudes every 37 carries too
November 21st, 2019 at 6:58 AM ^
Hahahaha + 1 million
Thank you for this comment. It allows me to now laugh at the previous use of a "stat" to justify and make one of the more idiotic comments I've read in some time.
Using the first occurrence of something to deduce a trend was just...I have no positive words.
This comment was so funny it restored a balance of sorts.
November 21st, 2019 at 12:16 PM ^
Didn't he have something like 7 TDs on 8 carries last year? Jesus some people say some completely thoughtless BS.
November 21st, 2019 at 12:03 AM ^
Besides fluky it was just a strange ass play call.
2nd and goal from the 6+. Scramble to get right personnel out there. Then wait? What? WTF is Mason doing getting the ball?
They had run him on exclusively goal line situations to that point. Never further than the 2.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:13 PM ^
So what was the official reason he was taken out?
November 20th, 2019 at 6:53 PM ^
Couple of reasons.
1.) When Gattis got hired, his original offensive playbook didn't really have much use for a fullback, or at least one of Mason's skill set.
2.) Our DT depth was looking like it would be really weak. The thought was that maybe a guy that loves the gym and loves being physical could potentially translate at that position in limited use basis.
He got moved back to offense because it turns out a 270lb fullback is just too small to be a DT. It also turned out that Michigan decided to add back in rushing concepts from last years offense, which meant that the fullback position had a role again.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:19 PM ^
I know fullbacks are kinda outdated theoretically, but if you're going to be running the ball a lot and have a guy like Mason at the position, I'm not sure why you wouldn't take advantage of that
November 20th, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Obviously the obvious answer was to take a 240 pound FB and make him a DT because that was going to fix the DL problem.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:05 PM ^
The ravens might be the best team in the nfl and use a dt/fb two way player pretty consistently
November 20th, 2019 at 6:13 PM ^
Reminds me of James Devlin
November 20th, 2019 at 6:14 PM ^
Ben’s place on offense is that of a short yardage battering ram blocker. I’m sure he knows that his role is different this year. He’s not going to get the carries he got last year. I’m glad he’s on our team, but moving forward, I doubt Harbaugh and Gattis offer any true fullbacks.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:49 PM ^
That makes me sad. We should always have a fullback.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:14 PM ^
We should and (likely) will always have a FB. Multiple even.
But I agree that we shouldn't offer scholarships to FBs in the future. Not a high enough leverage position. There are plenty of dudes willing to effectively sacrifice their body as a lead blocker a few times a game for Michigan football for free.
Give us all the Kevin Dudleys.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:14 PM ^
Great. My daughter will be stoked. I hope he gets more run than he did against MSU. We were looking for him the whole game and didn’t see him much.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:52 PM ^
MSU was a bad matchup for him and the kind of runs M would use him on.
He'll see more action in other games but still probably not more than a handful of plays a game.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:16 PM ^
This is probably the right move, but what a grinder to put a kid through. Is this a Ben Mason appreciation thread yet? It should be.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^
In the season opener we started Mason at DT, McGrone was behind Ross and Anthony at LB, and up until kick we didn’t know when and how capable Ambry would be.
We have come a long way
November 20th, 2019 at 7:00 PM ^
We also thought we would be shallow at running back
November 20th, 2019 at 8:23 PM ^
Gattis said it was the deepest position on offense and the one he wasn't worried about with 4 guys who can start.
For me it's always been DTs and CB depth.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:29 PM ^
Before the season my RB pecking order was:
1. Turner
2. Charbonnet
3. Wilson
4. BVS
November 20th, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
Haskins?
November 20th, 2019 at 11:21 PM ^
He's an Ed Warinner late bloomer product. :-)
November 20th, 2019 at 6:24 PM ^
He's been quiet but he can still be a weapon and one I think we'll see in 2 weeks as someone looking to blow up some Buckeye ass. A la this...
November 20th, 2019 at 7:34 PM ^
I highly doubt we'll be lining him up in the slot.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:11 PM ^
Thanks for that insight cornman. Doesn't have to be from the slot, I want him murdering anyone from anywhere and him getting out to the edge to do so was reminiscent enough of the play above for me to get excited at the notion. Also, never say never. It'd be a fun twist to see.
November 21st, 2019 at 2:22 AM ^
Nico could do a good Fitz impression and take out some buckeye DEs.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:25 PM ^
Good! I was excited to see him play defense before the season started but it was an experiment that never worked out. Now with the offense running bigger packages down near the goal line, albeit still out of a shotgun/pistol, his blocking prowess is more important as it's ever been this year.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:27 PM ^
That's good for the team and him. Ben Mason most certainly has what it takes to become an NFL fullback
November 20th, 2019 at 7:03 PM ^
He has the intangables for sure, but I am concerned what kind of role would be available to him. If this was early 2000's Ben Mason might be the first FB taken in the draft easily. However offenses have changed so much that very few teams use a FB, and the ones that do more so use H Backs that can have a role in the passing game.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:28 PM ^
I'm sure this has to do both with the offense finding its identity as well as Dwumfour now being healthy, Kemp playing well and Hinton being worked into the rotation.
Regarding redshirts, it looks like both Hinton and Mazi will be eligible, correct?
November 20th, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
Hinton has played in almost every game, so no. Mazi yes.
November 20th, 2019 at 7:19 PM ^
I saw Hinton a lot vs MSU.