Fullback Ben Mason Can Be the Next Battering Ram for Ravens
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Some players like to score touchdowns, others take pleasure in delivering mouth-jarring blocks.
Ben Mason takes pride in crushing opponents and that's one of the reasons the Ravens selected him in the fifth round of this year's draft from Michigan.
"Since I’ve been a kid, I’ve really just enjoyed the process of arriving at contact, going from Point A to Point B," Mason said. "I love everything about it – just arriving, meeting them with your hands and driving your feet on contact. My mental process is, ‘I’m the baddest dude on the field at all times,’ and I’m going to play like that and think like that. So, that’s really what I think, and when I see defenders in the hole, I want to make them feel my physical presence.”
Mason is a two-time winner of the Toughest Player of the Year award in 2017 and 2019 as voted by his teammates.
He's also a versatile player that can take a spot on the depth chart on both offense and defense.
Over four seasons at Michigan, he appeared in 45 career games with four starting assignments — one at defensive tackle, one at halfback and two at fullback. He carried the ball 37 times for 87 yards with nine touchdowns.
Mason also has a nose for the end zone, averaging a touchdown run every four carries.
He'll have an opportunity to learn from another two-way player in Baltimore, two-time Pro Bowler Patrick Ricard.
"As a fullback, you watch all the other fullbacks around, because there’s really not a lot of them," Mason said about Ricard. "I love the way he plays the game. He’s really physical and moves people off the ball. So, I look forward to learning from him.”
