From now until the 2024 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on South Dakota State guard, Mason McCormick.
#60 MASON MCCORMICK, OG, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (SR) — 6040, 310 lbs.
Shrine Bowl
Measurements
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Mason McCormick | 6042/309 | 9 5/8″ | 33 7/8″ | 82 3/8″ |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| 5.15 | 1.75 | 4.45 | 7.59 | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| 9’9″ | 35.5″ | N/A |
The Good
— Physical player who plays until the whistle
— Powerful legs and ability to drive
— Good awareness of oncoming rushers
— Maintains control of his man when he gets his hands on
— Consistently strong run blocker
— Adjusts well against rush moves
The Bad
— Struggles to consistently engage when climbing to second level
— Has a tendency to get lost when blocking in space
— Slow when pulling outside
—Needs to be more aggressive in pass protection
Bio
— Sixth-year senior with 70 games played
— 15 starts as a senior
— Shrine Bowl participant
— 2023 AFCA FCS Coaches’ Second Team All-American
— Three-year captain
— 2022 consensus All-American
— Finished college career with 54 consecutive starts
— Two-time FCS National Champion
— Combine invite
Tape Breakdown
Mason McCormick was one of the prospects who caught my eye the most at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl, and I figured it was time to dive into the tape. I was generally impressed with what I saw out of McCormick as a run blocker, but there are some areas where I think he could stand to improve, especially as a pass blocker, to become an impact NFL player.
One area where McCormick does do well in pass protection is adjusting against pass rush moves. He doesn’t often lose reps when he gets initial control.
But in pass protection, McCormick doesn’t always make an effort to engage with his blocker, which can cause him to get beat. Here’s one such example.
McCormick fails to maintain control, playing pattycake with the defender who then gets a free rush on the quarterback. It showed up a few times when watching him in pass protection, but the good news is it’s a correctable issue and McCormick does do a good job creating a wide base and forcing the defender to go all the way around to the quarterback.
When he has to pull, McCormick can be inconsistent. There are good examples, like the one below to spring his quarterback for a big gain.
But there are also times when he is too slow and can’t make the block, which happened a little bit too frequently on plays where he was asked to pull.
In the first clip, he’s initially indecisive about which linebacker to engage, and ends up being too late to the block allowing a small gain. In the second, he’s just a little bit slow to get over and the defender is easily able to go outside and get pressure on the quarterback.
He’s a strong, physical player who finishes his blocks, especially in the run game. Here, he throws a blitzing linebacker to the ground to create a huge hole right up the middle.
Plays like the above are where a lot of the intrigue comes from with McCormick. He doesn’t often lose control when he’s engaged and he’s strong enough to throw guys around and create big holes in the run game.
Despite initially getting beat with speed here, he redirects his man late into a blitzing defender to give the quarterback time to make a play.
But similar to his struggles with pulling, he gets a little lost when he’s not in a phone booth and has to play in space. Here, he whiffs on his attempt to climb to the second level in a negative play.
There are flashes of him making plays while on the move, which makes the lack of consistency frustrating.
Here, he pulls and springs his running back for a big gain. But just two plays later, he can’t find a man while on the move and the play goes for negative yards
Conclusion
Overall, I did like a lot of what I saw out of Mason McCormick, but despite his extensive collegiate experience, there are still areas for him to improve as he goes from the FCS to the NFL. He’s definitely better as a run blocker than a pass blocker, but a lot of his flaws in pass pro are fixable. He’s likely best suited for an inside run scheme in the NFL.
His issues pulling and playing in space came up a little too often on tape for me to think they’re going to go away completely, but his power in the run game and hand usage to combat pass rush moves still gives him a high floor for what he could be in the NFL.
He’s almost exclusively played at left guard in his collegiate career and he has the traits that could make him an NFL starter one day. For my comp, I’m going to go with former Jets and Vikings guard Dakota Dozier, as someone with similar size who entered the NFL as an FCS prospect who was better as a run blocker than a pass blocker and developed into a starter in the league.
Projection:Â Early Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 7.2 Rotational Player (4th Round)
Games Watched: 2023 – Vs. Montana, Vs. Albany, 2022 – Vs. North Dakota State
