Ben
Mason.
Ben
Mason.
Michigan· 6'3"· 246 lb· 4.77s 40
"A 6'2", 246-pound Michigan fullback and short-yardage battering ram with a plus pro day (4.77 forty, 37.5" vertical, 29 bench) — a Round-5 fullback-first pick where the block tape and toughness were the whole grade."Pre-draft read
This player aligns primarily as an I-back or offset FB, with situational reps as an inline Y and wing. His primary trait is contact toughness: he seeks out the biggest hit, drives through targets, and finishes with pad level and hip torque. Hand placement in isolation blocks is inconsistent, leading to lunging instead of striking inside, but his leg drive and second effort mitigate these technical issues.
As a runner, he's a downhill one-cut back with plus contact balance and genuine ability to fall forward for extra yardage in short-yardage. He possesses negligible lateral quickness. Ball skills as a receiver are functional on flat routes and check-downs; his route tree never extended past the numbers.
A run-heavy, downhill gap/duo power run game with heavy usage of two-back sets, pulling linemen, and play-action concepts built off aggressive run looks.
Year 1 impact as a core-four special teamer and short-yardage/goal-line specialist; ceiling as a starting lead-blocking fullback in a traditional power-run scheme.
Any spread RPO or Air Raid scheme that focuses on five-wide sets and minimizes or eliminates the fullback position entirely, where his niche skills are unutilized.
Mason projects as a high-floor, high-effort lead-blocker and special teams contributor perfectly suited for a traditional power-run offense, but his limited receiving skill and lack of lateral agility cap his utility in modern pass-heavy schemes.
Top 30 Plays of Michigan FB/TE Ben Mason
Career reel: lead-block finishes, short-yardage TDs and Senior Bowl-caliber contact reps.
#TBT: Ben Mason game-sealing touchdown
Signature short-yardage rep — pad level, contact balance and pile-driver finish through defenders.
Ben Mason FB Michigan 2017 Highlights
Freshman-year sample: converted linebacker showing the physicality that defined the college role.
This player projects as a true lead-blocking fullback and short-yardage runner, a role a team buys for specific personnel groupings and goal-line situations. His testing numbers indicated more athletic potential than his college usage suggested, but his game consistently demonstrates contact toughness and physicality.
He entered the draft as a four-year contributor, known for his work in the Michigan offense as a lead blocker and short-yardage scorer, collecting 12 career rushing touchdowns. His collegiate snaps provided legitimate NFL blocking assignments against Big Ten fronts. He demonstrated his capabilities during Senior Bowl week with consistent clear and finishing lead blocks against Day 2 prospects.
Evaluators noted his position's low value, as most NFL teams carry few, if any, true fullbacks. The consensus ranged from a Round 6 pick to a priority undrafted free agent. Baltimore's Round 5 selection represented a high-value pick for the archetype, given their scheme's genuine use of the position and his special teams profile.
- 01
Lead-blocking Résumé
Consistently won collisions against Big Ten defenders through four years, providing an effective lead-blocking presence from the I-back and offset FB positions.
- 02
Short-yardage Runner
Reliable short-yardage and goal-line runner, demonstrating elite pad level and pile-driving finish contributing to 12 career rushing touchdowns.
- 03
Athletic Testing
Clean pro-day testing includes a 4.77 forty-yard dash, 37.5-inch vertical, and 29 bench reps, which eases concerns about his coverage speed and role on special teams.
- 04
Validated Blocking
Senior Bowl week validated lead-blocking ability against NFL-level front sevens, earning unprompted praise for consistent and clear kick-out blocks.
- 05
Special Teams Profile
Performed on all four phases of special teams at Michigan, with mass and contact appetite to contribute as a gunner, jammer, or wing.
- 01
Position Value
Fullback position has low value, with fewer than twenty true fullbacks rostered league-wide, limiting opportunities.
- 02
Limited Receiving Upside
The route tree never extended beyond flats and dump-offs, which restricts his potential as a flex-Y or receiving threat.
- 03
Inconsistent Hand Placement
Hand placement in isolation blocks is inconsistent, leading to lunging instead of striking and negating his leg-drive advantage.
- 04
Downhill Runner
Strictly a downhill one-cut runner with negligible ability to bounce or make defenders miss, limiting his emergency-back value.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.77sp50
- Vertical
- 37.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 117inp50
- Three-cone
- 6.89sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.44sp50
- Bench
- 29repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | RecYds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Michigan | 13 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Michigan | 13 | 33 | 80 | 7 | 1 | 15 |
| 2019 | Michigan | 13 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Michigan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| Career | — | 45 | 37 | 87 | 9 | 3 | 32 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Fifth-round fullback drafted as a special teams four-phase player and short-yardage lead blocker; a decade-long career built on physicality and role clarity is the honest ceiling.
Best-case outcome is a hybrid FB/TE who moonlights as a receiver, but Mason lacks Juszczyk's route acumen and hands — realistic only in the blocking dimension.
Undrafted-tier true fullback who bounces practice squads and lands a role on a heavy-personnel team — Mason's realistic floor given the shrinking position economy.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Ben Mason arrived at Michigan as a scholarship linebacker, converted to fullback in the Michigan system, and spent four years as the offense's designated goal-line closer and lead blocker. He scored 12 rushing touchdowns across his Wolverine career, most from inside the five, and doubled as a special teams core player. At the 2021 Senior Bowl he became a viral clip when Daniel Jeremiah lit up his crushing lead block, and his Michigan pro day workout (4.77 forty, 37.5" vertical, 29 bench reps, 6.89 three-cone at 246 pounds) confirmed the physical profile the tape had promised. The board consensus placed him as the top true fullback in the class in a league that barely uses the position, with a Day 3 grade tied entirely to teams that still ran heavy 21-personnel and valued a plus special teamer.
NFL fit — Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore, running a heaviest-personnel offense in football behind All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard, used the 184th pick on Mason as a developmental TE/FB hybrid meant to learn behind Ricard and unlock two-fullback sets. On paper the fit was ideal: a run-first play caller, a scheme with roots in the Michigan system, and a locker room that valued the exact toughness Mason had been marketed on. He was waived at final cuts as a rookie, spent time on the practice squad, and never carved out a helmet on gamedays.
Retrospective. Mason never appeared in an NFL regular-season game. He bounced between the Ravens' practice squad and futures deals, had a brief 49ers practice-squad stint in a Shanahan-style offensive system, and by 2024 was out of the league. In a fullback economy where even Ricard-caliber blockers are one-per-team luxuries, a fifth-round investment on the position aged poorly, though the individual evaluation — plus blocker, plus special teamer, plus tester — was reasonable within the archetype.