Patriots' Shaq Mason makes PFF50 list

New England guard Shaq Mason makes Pro Football Focus' PFF50 list.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Pro Football Focus has begun rolling out their PFF50 list which gives their 50 best players in the NFL heading into the 2019 season. They have released numbers 50-21 so far, and New England Patriots offensive guard Shaq Mason, who is a regarded by PFF as one of the premier guards in the league, came in at no. 50 on the list. 

Here is what they had to say about Mason.

Mason has quietly developed into one of the NFL’s top guards now just four years removed from going in the fourth round to the Pats in the 2015 NFL Draft. He has earned 75.0 or higher run-blocking grades every year of his career thus far, all while playing 300 or more run-blocking snaps each season dating back to his rookie campaign.

He did need time to develop as a pass blocker having played in Georgia Tech’s triple option at the collegiate level, but Mason seemingly put it all together in 2018. He earned career-high marks in pass-blocking grade (80.2) and overall grade (85.0) across his 1,202 offensive snaps this past season, and he also logged his third consecutive season with an 80.6 run-blocking grade. Not only did his impact run-block percentage (15.0%) lead all guards, but he also ranked tied for sixth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric (98.3) and tied for eighth in pressure percentage allowed (3.2%).

Mason is one of the cornerstone pieces of the offensive line and is a necessary piece of the unit if the team wants to continue to keep Brady healthy and produce a strong running game like they did in 2018. 

Mason was the lone Patriot to be named on the PFF50 list so far. Let's see if anyone else is named in the top 20.