I've gone back and looked at the last three games again, for the third time, in order to watch Hutson Mason. I know the talking points well, our running game will carry the offense, Mason just has to be a "game manager" and we'll control the football and score plenty of points. I'm highly skeptical of that premise, because that's not how it's worked to date under CMR/CMB. But, even a game manager has to be able to take what the defense is giving, and HM hasn't shown that ability, IMO.

One play demonstrates many of the problems I see with HM, not the only example but demonstrative. See the 27:13 mark in this video. LINK

Against Clemson in the first quarter, 1st and 10 at at about Clemson's 40 yard line. Conley lined up wide and ran a straight fly route toward the right pylon. He was wide open at the 30 yard line, looking back for the ball at the 28 yard line. Finally at about the 15, Clemson's safety came over to cover. Meanwhile, Mason rolled to his right, stutter stepped for a second, and then threw deep. The pass was a) thrown late, b) thrown high c) thrown behind and to the wrong side of the receiver. There was no pressure that should have caused any of those errors. The play ended as pass interference, lucky it wasn't an interception. With Aaron Murray it would have been 6 points.

Here are my opinions of Mason based on 3 games, GT, Nebraska, Clemson.

1) He doesn't see the field well. I can understand this, because even if a guy knows the offense inside and out, it takes time to develop that rapid recognition of who will be open, and then get the ball out. Nevertheless, a game manager has to do this, because you can't leave points on the field and win games consistently.

2) Quite often just looks at his target right away. Maybe because of deficiency #1, he just picks a target in advance and goes there, even if it's covered.

3) Pocket presence is not good. One reason for the lack of downfield passing is that Hutson doesn't keep his focus in the pocket. Very rarely see him step up under pressure, keep his eyes downfield. He generally either dumps off short, or tries to run. Big change from Murray.

4) Footwork gets jiggy at the slightest sign of pressure. One reason for the weak throws is that HM doesn't keep his feet under him unless he has an absolutely clear backfield. Mason's arm is not strong enough to throw without good mechanics. He really needs his lower body to be effective.

5) Accuracy is lacking. You would think a "game manager" would need to be accurate above all else. Once again, I don't see it. He's made some horrible miss throws in these three games, and not just long passes. I'm not going to try to list them all, but anybody who thinks Hutson Mason is more accurate than Aaron Murray or Matt Stafford is dead wrong, IMO. I think Joe Cox was more accurate.

It's bye week, no football foes to insult, so I thought I'd step up and give DawgRanters some cannon fodder. I'm not a professional analyst, these thoughts are impressions and could be wrong. But I don't believe Mason is the guy who will lead us to an SEC or national championship. Fire away. You're welcome in advance.

This post was edited on 9/6/14 at 9:27 am