Mason McCormick scouting report: Exploring the South Dakota State interior offensive lineman's strengths and weaknesses

After an initial redshirt in 2018 (three games played), Mason McCormick started the final two games the following season, as the Jackrabbits lost the FCS Championship.

From 2020 onwards, he was a fixture in the lineup at left guard, booking a 57-game streak as a starter while helping SDSU win back-to-back national titles. He was a team captain for three straight years and was named first-team All-FCS in the latter two.

Mason McCormick scouting report

Run-blocking:

• Comes out of his stance with urgency and great pad level, digging his hands under the rib cage of D-linemen and taking them for a ride regularly
• Provides significant vertical displacement on combos with his center and frequently rides nose-tackles into the lap of middle linebackers
• For his wide build, McCormick’s ability to cover ground laterally and seal or reach-block A-gap defenders on the backside of run concepts is impressive
• Makes sure to bump first-level defenders over to the opposite gap as he arrives for quick combos on inside zone before instantly progressing to the linebacker
• On the backside, he delivers a forceful help hand against three techniques to allow his tackle to secure scoop blocks
• Does well to ID the defense shifting or bringing down a linebacker late into the quarterback’s cadence and adjusting his assignment as the ball is snapped
• Has plenty of torque to twist defenders out of the lane late
• SDSU loved to use him on skill pulls and short pulls on off-tackle plays, where he would bury some linebackers trying to fill
• It’s almost weird to see a guy with McCormack’s square-like build fly out towards the perimeter and get a piece of safeties on wide receiver screens, oftentimes after throwing by rushers

Pass-protection:

• Built like a brick wall and tough to go through in passing situations
• Those hands are like cinderblocks, stone-walling interior rushers and then attaching them to their numbers to shut those down completely
• It never feels like McCormack to moves defenders are throwing at him, sitting back and watching them go nowhere as he calmly slides in front of them
• Independently uses his hands to stab at and square up rushers in front of him
• With his arms being 34 inches, he has a longer reach than many guards to guide rushers off track when they swat his hands away late
• Quickly closes that space towards his center when he sees the guy over him loop across the formation, to pick up D-tackles slanting his way
• Put together an incredible Shrine Bowl week, where he was able to shut down a talented group of interior pass-rushers, mirroring multiple moves on several occasions, along with pushing people around in the run game
• Across 1605 pass-blocking snaps in his career, McCormick was only charged with three sacks and 24 additional pressures (zero sacks, three pressures in 2023)

Weaknesses:

• Will just launch himself into D-tackles on angular blocks and slip off already against FCS competition, which will be a bigger issue against more skilled NFL linemen with their hand usage
• Has rather heavy feet and rarely had the edges of his frame challenged by twitchy interior rushers
• Doesn’t fit his hands nearly as well when defenders slant across his face and there’s not a lot of surface area to attach to
• Whether in the run or pass game, there’s some stiffness to adjusting to moving targets and redirecting as he needs to shuffle back over to the center after setting outside initially
• Despite his massive amount of experience (3411 career snaps), only 15 of those snaps didn’t come at left guard, offering limited positional flexibility potentially

I was very happy that I got around to watching both South Dakota O-line prospects – McCormick and left tackle Garret Greenfield – before Shrine Bowl week, because they were two of the biggest standouts throughout practices. Coming out of my (limited) tape evaluation, I thought he was an impressive run-blocker who was more mobile than his frame might suggest.

I do still believe there’s another jump up to NFL competition where he will be stressed laterally. Nonetheless, with an RAS score of 9.97 and nearly flawless tape as a senior, he showed a lot of pro potential.

Grade: Early third round