Steelers A to Z: Guard Mason McCormick an intriguing middle-round draft pick

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

G MASON MCCORMICK

Experience/age: Rookie, 24

Contract status: $986,224 cap hit in 2024, signed through 2027

The past: McCormick made 57 consecutive starts at FCS power South Dakota State. In his four full seasons as a starter, the Jackrabbits went 48-7. McCormick was a first-team AP FCS All America selection each of the past two seasons, during which South Dakota State won the national championship each year. McCormick spent six seasons at the school, playing in three games as a redshirt in 2018 and making two late-season starts in 2019 before moving into a full-time role the next season (which was played in the spring of 2021). McCormick played almost exclusively left guard in college aside from early in his career when he had sporadic snaps at right guard and center. He was a three-year college captain.

Pro Football Focus graded McCormick as the second-best guard in college football in 2023 (FCS and FBS combined), giving him the best grade of anyone for run blocking. PFF charged McCormick with allowing three sacks over 1,605 career college pass blocking snaps.

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— Mason McCormick (@MasonLMcCormick) February 7, 2024

2024 outlook: Projected as a consensus mid-round pick headed into this draft, the 6-foot-4, 309-pound McCormick impressed scouts with a tough demeanor. He tested well at the combine: his 1.71-seconds split for the first 10 yards of his 40-yard dash, for example, was bested by just five of the more than four dozen offensive linemen who ran it. (Incidentally, he was tied with Steelers’ first-round tackle Troy Fautanu). Only three o-linemen had a better vertical jump (35.5 inches) or 20-yard shuttle time (4.45 seconds) and none had a better broad jump (9 feet, 9 inches).

Taken in the fourth round, McCormick was taking second-team reps at guard during organized team activities and minicamp. With entrenched (and well-paid) veterans James Daniels and Isaac Seumalo the starters at guard, McCormick has no path to start as a rookie. But Daniels is on record that he expects to test free agency this coming spring, and the Steelers are hopeful McCormick can be his replacement.

It’s still very early, and McCormick of course will have to prove his bona fides as a pro. But observers will be eager to watch McCormick at camp because he has every bit the look of a quality mid-round draft pick that could develop into an eventual longtime starter on the offensive line.