Mike Tomlin challenged Mason McCormick last week to live up to the legacy of wearing No. 66. Based on his play against the Cincinnati Bengals, I would say he more than responded. McCormick looked great.
Perhaps the best trait a rookie player can have is the ability to learn from their mistakes. The more coachable they are and the better they adjust has a huge effect on how productive they can be as a rookie. That is especially the case for a player who came from FCS football against lesser competition. Even the least talented NFL players Mason McCormick goes against right now are miles ahead of most of the best players he faced while at South Dakota State.
Learning on the fly is critical, and he has shown a ton of growth this season. There are things on a larger scale that McCormick has corrected from his first start to his most recent one. There are also things he corrects throughout the course of a game. If he gets beat by something once, he does a good job making sure it doesn’t happen again and adjusting on the fly.
McCormick hasn’t allowed a sack this season, but he came pretty close on this play. Russell Wilson got rid of the ball but was tackled to the ground immediately afterward. This is because McCormick didn’t pick up the twist. The defensive tackle aligned over him went outside and the edge defender looped inside. It was too late by the time he saw it.
Later in the game, the Bengals ran a very similar twist and as soon as McCormick felt his guy going outside, he prepared himself for somebody twisting back to the inside. The ball was already gone, but it still shows that he learned from the first time it happened and adjusted on the fly.
Earlier in the season, McCormick had some issues with standing straight up and letting his feet get too narrow. That limited his play strength and resulted in him getting pushed back or shed to the side too easily. He has gotten so much better at maintaining bend in his knees and keeping a wide base.
He showed that on this play and also used his punch and latch strength to help recover with his feet to mirror the defender.
Breaking from the theme of this post, there were some other things I really liked from his play against the Bengals. On this rep, he showed excellent use of hands. He landed his punches inside and after the defender batted them down, he worked them right back inside. His hands were active, and he used the full length of his arms to steer the DT out wide. Guards are responsible for the depth of the pocket, so if the DT wants to go outside, that’s a win for McCormick. Look at the massive throwing (or escape) lane for Russell Wilson to work with.
McCormick will also bury defenders who let their momentum get too far out ahead of themselves. Here, his guy tried to cross his face and McCormick used his momentum against him for a pancake block.
I really liked this rep. It was maybe his best of the game. McCormick initially helped Broderick Jones with the 3-tech DT and then picked up the linebacker who was crashing down in the A gap. It would have been a tackle for loss, but McCormick created room for Najee Harris to run for a seven-yard gain.
Finally, this was a very solid reach block by McCormick. If he failed, it still would have been a successful play, but his guy could have saved the touchdown. He managed to get his body around and seal off Kris Jenkins Jr. to ensure a touchdown. Given the Steelers’ red zone struggles, this is a big-time play. There is no guarantee they were going to punch it in if this play fails.
There is a reason that this was the best grade of Mason McCormick’s career from Pro Football Focus (79.6). The arrow is firmly pointing up.
