Matt Waldman shares his pre-NFL Draft scouting report of 49ers RB Jordan Mason, a back he believed had the talent to have a better NFL career than what he did in college.
RB Jordan Mason RSP Scouting Report
Height/Weight: 6-1/218 School: Georgia Tech
Comparison Spectrum: Alfred Morris/X
Depth of Talent Score: 74.4 = Statistically, Mason had a period where he was one of the most elusive backs in college football. Playing the complementary role to future early-round pick, Jahmyr Gibbs, Mason has the size, strength, speed, acceleration, and confidence in tight creases to potentially outperform his Saturday years with his Sunday profession.
I compared Mason to Alfred Morris because they have similar frames, shiftiness, enough power and contact balance to hold up between the tackles, and neither was used extensively in the passing game. The difference is that Mason is more explosive and already shows better hands whereas Morris was more proven a decision-maker.
Games Tracked (Opponent/Date/Link):
- Georgia ‘21
- UM ‘21
- UVA ‘21
- UNC ‘21
- Clem ‘21
The Elevator Pitch for Mason: A well-built runner with enough top speed to beat safeties and hold off some cornerbacks in the open field, Mason has the size and strength to run through reaches and wraps. He’s also one of the better backs in the draft at making defenders miss. He layers moves together very well for a back with a downhill mentality although he can get too caught up in making one extra move at the expense of building up momentum and trucking the defender with his size.
It’s a longshot for sure, but Mason is a candidate in this draft for having a better pro career than college career.
Where has the player improved? Later in the 2021 season, Mason did a better job of leading with his hands and aiming for the chest with a punch as a pass protector—even if it was a double-jab rather than uppercuts—against edge pressure.
Where is the player inconsistent? Mason tries too hard to deliver one shoulder into the chest of blitzers. The more he focuses on using his hand to punch, the more he sets himself up for success as a pass protector.
What is the best scheme fit? Duo would be a nice fit for him. He could be a nice addition for the Buccaneers on the third day of the draft.
What is his ceiling scenario? If Mason can improve his pass protection, ball security, and develop a wider range expertise with pro-style blocking schemes, he could become part of a committee, if not a lead back.
What is his floor scenario? Special teams or starring in another league.
Physical: Mason is a hitter with or without the ball.
Vision: Mason hits tight gap scheme creases with conviction. He’ll press the line within a step of his blocks. He has to improve his footwork when close to these blockers because he can trip over the backs of a blocker’s legs.
He lacks confidence with reaching the edge on well-blocked perimeter runs, opting to cut back into pursuit. He should show more patience with the primary design.
He’s skilled at pressing the double teams on Duo and getting within a step of a defender’s leverage before cutting back through the open crease. He’s decisive when there’s a crease or at least room to make creases with presses.
He identifies an interior push into the backfield as he takes the exchange and efficiently works away from it.
Elusiveness: Mason spins off head-on contact. He’ll also drop the pads into a defender’s glancing shot as he jump cuts away from the direct angle.
Mason only needs two short steps to transition from a perimeter approach to a downhill path when still inside the tackle box. He adjusts his stride length to set up gap creases.
He has enough quickness to pivot in the opposite direction of a pursuing linebacker and get downhill in the open field. Mason will also set up defensive backs with layers of moves to bait them outside and cut back to the inside, making multiple defensive backs miss on the play.
Elusiveness is a calling card of his style.
Acceleration: Mason has the acceleration to threaten a secondary and flip the field with breakaway gains. He also beats linebackers and safeties around the short and far side edges. He’ll take advantage of good angles against linebackers, safeties, up the middle, too. His acceleration is good enough to be a starter in the league.
Speed: Mason has the speed to beat cornerbacks in pursuit on a run up the middle. He can take the ball 70-plus yards against a same-side cornerback who was playing in the box and he’ll hold off safeties working from the opposite hash.
Power: Mason is strong enough to keep his feet moving when wrapped high at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackles. He can pull through multiple reaches in the open field and it often takes a sound hit and wrap to bring him to the ground. His stiff arm is strong enough to ward off a reach from a defensive tackle with some intensity behind the contact.
Direct Contact Balance: He’ll collide directly into linebackers and defensive backs at the end of a crease and spin off them.
Indirect Contact Balance: He’ll bounce off hits from linebackers and defensive backs.
Routes: Mason runs a lot of outlets to the flat or underneath outlets after leaking from the backfield. He settles under the second-level zone defender and will work to open space if he’s not immediately targeted and the quarterback scrambles.
Receiving: Mason uses mixed hand position as an outlet receiver on some targets at his chest. He can also use overhand position. He also uses underhand position at the waist but claps onto the ball. He tracks the ball over his shoulder and has the confidence in his fingertips to make a one-handed snare on these plays, as needed.
Blocking: As the backside edge protector on sprint plays, Mason pivots from a position tight to his backside tackle and fans out from there to take on the backside pursuit. He loads up his shoulder, shooting it at the opponent and leaving his feet rather than squaring and delivering his hands.
Even when he squares up with his hips and knees bent, he twists his frame so he can lead with a shoulder. He’ll bend his arms and try to get an extra push after the collision with the shoulder, aiming for the chest.
Mason spots the edge defender working inside on a twist. He’ll get deep into the line and with a running start, deliver a hard shot with his shoulder into the chest of the end. Mason drops his head and leads with his pads as a standup blocker and can easily miss the target with this technique.
Mason can miss opportunities to block an unblocked edge defender because he’s acting out a play fake in the direction of the actual edge rusher. He must become more cognization of the priority of protecting the quarterback ahead of acting out a play fake.
Most of his blocks are chips or helping on double teams, so his rate of success is higher than his method of blocking will warrant in one-on-one scenarios. He’s cognizant of when he shouldn’t chip too hard or else knock the defender off the advantageous angle of the tackle.
When he has to work across the pocket, his method of attack leads him to missing angles and giving the edge defender room to avoid Mason. It also makes him a one-punch blocker who has a lesser shot of a successful follow-up.
Later in the season, Mason did a better job of leading with his hands and aiming for the chest with a punch—even if it was a double jab rather than uppercuts—against edge pressure. Against A-gap pressure, he continued to go for knockout shots with his shoulders into the chest of linebackers and safeties at least some of the time. When handling twists, he would punch the end working inside and stifle the defender with the shot.
The strength, quickness, and stance are all promising parts of Mason’s game as a blocker. If he works at his craft, he could become an excellent pass protector.
He misses angles as a lead blocker on jet sweets. When working between the tackles, Mason can handle to assignments in succession with quick chips or bumps.
He recognizes inside and outside pressure.
As a cut blocker on sprint, he’ll shoot across and through the target with enough height to at least slow the defender to a stop. He drops his head which can tip off the block.
Ball Security: He carries the ball high to his chest and can take contact to the ball. He carries the ball under the correct boundary arm. His elbow can be a little tighter.
Durability: Missed four games in 2020 due to injury.
Pre-NFL Draft Fantasy Advice: Hassan Haskins, Snoop Conner, and Tyler Allgeier will have their pockets of touters, but if I’m targeting backs with a chance to surprise, I want more explosive players whose systems may not have featured them as extensively as they might have been featured elsewhere, Mason is one of those candidates. The luxury for you is that Mason will be available 2-4 rounds later than all of the names mentioned here, so you can get Mason and one of these mid-round options if you are in a deep league and you’re loading up.
Mason is absolutely a player to monitor as a UDFA signing and one to throw on your practice squad for this year in deeper formats. Even in shallower formats, it might be worth using a practice squad spot or expanded offseason roster spot immediately after the draft as a preemptive addition. If he makes zero noise, little lost.
Boiler/Film Room Material (Links to plays):
And of course, if you want to know about the rookies from this draft class, you will findthe most in-depth analysis of offensive skill players available (QB, RB, WR, and TE), with the 2024Rookie Scouting Portfoliofor $21.95.
Matt’s newRSP Dynasty Rankings and Two-Year Projections Packageis available for $24.95
If you’re a fantasy GM interested in purchasing past publications for $9.95 each, the 2012-2023 RSPs also have a Post-Draft Add-on that’s included at no additional charge.
Best yet, proceeds from sales are set aside for a year-end donation to Darkness to Light to combat the sexual abuse of children.
