Name: MASON BENNETT
School: Vincent Massey Football – Winnipeg, MB (Coach Kelsey McKay)
Vitals: OLB (#55) 6’4″ – 230 lbs
Mason Bennett is the third commitment from the great north in this recruiting class. He joins fellow Winnipeger’s Brady Oliveira and Zack Williams in the UND class of 2015. Bennett is the #5 overall rated Canadian player in this year’s group of college eligible players.
Bennett is a tall, rangy linebacker who played all of his career at defensive end for Vincent Massey. Bennett is standing up on the end of the line in most clips, very similar to what he will be doing for UND at the outside linebacker position. He is explosive off the edge, as evidenced by his 16 sacks that he recorded this past fall. He also shows good quickness when making his first move vs. the opposing tackle.
By all accounts, Bennett impressed at several camps this summer, solidifying him as a top prospect in Canada. He will add another element to the OLB position that you can’t teach – height. At 6’4″, he will be able to get in the passing lanes while dropping into coverage and force higher throws, etc. Overall, we see him as a strong-side OLB in UND’s 3-4 scheme due to his size and pass rushing ability.
Bennett will need to work on lateral agility before he will be a complete outside linebacker. He will be a force off the edge but UND’s OLB’s need to be able to drop from the line of scrimmage into the flat/curl zone and cover up intermediate routes. Backpedaling and dropping towards the sideline is a must for OLB’s in UND’s 3-4 scheme.
Bennett has been selected to Team Canada, which will take on a team from the U.S. in an All-Star football game this coming February, 2015.
So he’s still growing, if he gets taller and more athletic we may have a steal on our hands. In his film he showed a natural suddeness and good flexibility around the corner. From what we’ve seen the coaches will mold him into a monster.
Not that it is a big deal, but is it possible to add other schools that offered or were showing more than token interest? Nice to see who we’re going against on some of these players.
Bennett had another verified offer from NDSU. We can add those but are trying to get away from the pettiness of how that always goes down. Wyoming was talking to him all along but never offered.
Understandable. I find it interesting to look back and see which kids that we were able to get over other schools and which kids UND was the only one in on and saw something that other schools didn’t. Completely get the part about not wanting the detract from what matters and adding the other offers would likely do that.
We have done it before and I totally understand what you are saying. It is interesting. We will think about it moving forward. Thanks!