Mason
Richman.
Mason
Richman.
Iowa· 6'5"· 307 lb· 5.34s 40
"Fifty-two starts at left tackle in the Kirk Ferentz program is its own kind of credential, and Richman's answer to short arms was to make sure his hands and his feet were never a beat late."Pre-draft read
A four-year left tackle in Iowa's pro-style offense, Richman is a technique-first pass protector who wins with timing rather than mass. His kick slide is compact and repeatable, he keeps his shoulders square through the arc, and his hands fire in a tight inside-out punch that lets him reset when the first attempt misses. He mirrors edge speed cleanly and rarely overextends.
In the run game he is a zone blocker: he reaches the play-side shade, works combos to the second level and finishes with position instead of displacement. The signature is consistency: elite pass-blocking grades and a 43-game start streak. What he lacks is the length and raw power to erase a defender — nearly everything he wins comes from leverage and placement.
Outside and inside zone scheme that asks him to reach, combo and climb rather than displace defenders at the point of attack.
Year 1: swing backup at tackle and guard. Ceiling: multi-year starting left guard or a spot-start tackle in a zone offense.
Gap-and-power run game with an isolated left tackle on an island against long, heavy-handed 5-techniques on obvious passing downs.
The shorter the distance between him and the defender at the snap, the less his arm length matters.
Mason Richman SWARM20 Highlight
Game film cut-up of Mason Richman's Iowa tape.
Watch now: Hawkeye OT Mason Richman on Iowa's offense vs Michigan
Game film cut-up of Mason Richman's Iowa tape.
Iowa OL Mason Richman
Game film cut-up of Mason Richman's Iowa tape.
Richman is the archetype Iowa produces every few years: an unspectacular, technically immaculate left tackle who plays the position the same way in December as he did in September. Fifty-two career starts, the most by an offensive lineman in the Kirk Ferentz era, and 43 of them consecutive. Honorable-mention All-Big Ten in all four years as a starter, on a 2024 line that was a Joe Moore Award semifinalist.
The production backs the tape. Three games into his senior season he was the highest-graded pass blocker in the country per PFF, and Iowa ran for 200-plus yards in eight games behind him. But the pro-day workout framed the debate: 32 1/8-inch arms and a 5.34 forty at 307 pounds is a below-threshold measurable profile for an NFL tackle, and long, powerful rushers could get into his frame before his hands arrived. The anchor was functional, not stout.
Boards read it accordingly — a late-round developmental swing whose experience and football IQ made him a safe camp body, with most evaluators projecting a kick inside to guard. Seattle took him at 234 for exactly that: a five-year starter with clean technique who costs nothing to develop and can be tried at three positions.
- 01
Elite experience
Fifty-two career starts at left tackle, the most by any offensive lineman in the Kirk Ferentz era, including a 43-game consecutive start streak through 2024.
- 02
Pass-set technique
Compact kick slide with square shoulders and no wasted steps; he graded as the highest pass-blocking lineman in the country through three games in 2024.
- 03
Hand placement
Fires a tight inside-out punch and resets quickly when the first strike misses, keeping rushers off his chest without lunging or grabbing outside the frame.
- 04
Zone run fit
Comfortable reaching play-side shades and climbing off combos, with the balance and body control to sustain blocks in space on the second level.
- 05
Football character
Four-time honorable-mention All-Big Ten, Academic All-Big Ten and a senior Player Council member, with a reputation for coachability and durability.
- 01
Short arms
32 1/8-inch arms fall below the standard NFL tackle threshold; long rushers get inside his frame first and can steer him before his hands land.
- 02
Functional, not stout, anchor
He absorbs bull rushes by resetting his feet rather than stopping them cold, and power rushers push the pocket back into the quarterback.
- 03
Limited displacement
He blocks for position and rarely moves defenders off the ball, which caps his value in a gap-and-power run game that asks linemen to create movement.
- 04
Below-average testing
A 5.34 forty and 9-foot-2 broad jump at his pro day confirmed ordinary explosiveness, limiting his margin for error against NFL edge speed.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.34sp50
- Vertical
- 28inp50
- Broad jump
- 110inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.47sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.63sp50
- Bench
- 21repp50
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Iowa | 3 |
| 2021 | Iowa | — |
| 2022 | Iowa | — |
| 2023 | Iowa | — |
| 2024 | Iowa | 13 |
| Career | — | 16 |
Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics; the record here is starts, verified against Iowa's official bio and season summaries. The four starting seasons sum exactly to his 52 career starts, the most by an offensive lineman in the Kirk Ferentz era. He redshirted in 2020, appearing in three games without a start. Per-season games played beyond 2020 and 2024 are not individually verified and are left blank rather than estimated.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Experienced college tackle who settles in as a swing backup across three spots.
Technique-driven college tackle who becomes a long-term interior starter.
Short-armed technician who bounces between practice squad and the back of the roster.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Seattle drafted him as a developmental tackle-guard hybrid and treated him that way all season. Richman survived cutdowns, spent most of 2025 on the fringe of a healthy offensive line behind Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, and appeared in two games without a start — the classic seventh-round rookie year for an interior-flexible lineman who needs a professional off-season before he is asked to protect anyone. Seattle listed him as a tackle-guard through the year and kept him in the building into 2026, which is the outcome the pick was made for.
In hindsight the evaluation was accurate rather than wrong. Everyone recognized the technique and the start count; everyone also priced the arm length, and nothing about his rookie year contradicted either read. The open question is the one that was open in April 2025: whether a tackle who wins by placement can hold up against NFL length, or whether the answer is a permanent move inside to guard where his short arms stop being a liability and his hand timing becomes the trait. Year two is when that gets settled.
Data note: Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics; the record here is starts, verified against Iowa's official bio and season summaries. The four starting seasons sum exactly to his 52 career starts, the most by an offensive lineman in the Kirk Ferentz era. He redshirted in 2020, appearing in three games without a start. Per-season games played beyond 2020 and 2024 are not individually verified and are left blank rather than estimated.