‘Invested, Wired In’ Mason Richman Poised to Surprise as Seahawks Seventh-Round Pick
IOWA CITY, Iowa - While many of their conference foes in the Big Ten land top recruits who can be plugged into the lineup right away, earning a spot on the offensive line for the Iowa Hawkeyes has been a rite of passage throughout the program’s storied history.
Dating back to 1972, when the NCAA altered archaic rules that allowed freshman to finally participate in varsity sports for the first time, the Hawkeyes have rarely deployed freshman starters in the trenches, leaning heavily on experienced, developed upper classmen who had been on campus for at least a couple of years. In fact, prior to George Barnett’s arrival as offensive line coach in 2021, Iowa had only one four-year starter at left tackle - Alaric Jackson from 2017 to 2020 - in the previous 48 seasons combined.
But as Barnett began to evaluate the group he inherited coming from Miami Ohio, with several players recovering from injuries heading into spring ball, a redshirt freshman in Mason Richman caught his eye. After seeing a handful of snaps as a guard in 2020, the youngster impressed his new coach with his work ethic, mentality, and high football IQ, demonstrating the intangibles that have allowed the Hawkeyes to remain highly competitive in one of the toughest conferences in college football despite not bringing in a bunch of four and five-star recruits.
Happily sliding out to left tackle at the request of Barnett, Richman wouldn’t relinquish the role once he checked into the lineup, starting 52 games over his final four seasons before being selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“The big thing that stood out to me was his maturity. He's always been a little bit more mature beyond his years,” Barnett said of his initial impression of Richman during an interview with Locked On Seahawks. “Very accountable, just always locked in even at a young age, a willingness to learn, always asking questions. That maturity goes a long way. Usually it takes a couple years for a kid to gain that and garner that, but Mason had that early and probably survived on that his first year as he learned and got experience playing, the way he carried himself on a daily basis. He was a professional early on.”
A throwback in every sense of the word, Richman matches the prototype Iowa looks for when hitting the recruiting trail. Fitting the “mold perfectly,” per Barnett, he brought a no-nonsense approach to everything he did, never encountering a challenge he wasn’t ready to take head on and setting an example for other players in the program on how to handle adversity, helping maintain the strong culture coach Kirk Ferentz has built over 26 seasons in Iowa City.
Willing to play wherever the Hawkeyes needed him with no questions asked and exhibiting tireless drive between the lines, Richman exemplified everything the program stood for, to the point where Barnett indicated the coaching staff would regularly have to pull him off the field in practice because he would sneak out for extra reps as a guard with the second team.
In an era where many players voluntarily choose to check out late in the season with the slightest bump or bruise with sights on hitting the transfer portal or preparing early for the NFL rather than gutting it out, Richman brought a blue collar mindset to Iowa’s offensive line that would have been welcomed on the gridiron during the old school days where teams conducted brutal two-a-days throughout August and simply making it to the regular season proved to be an incredible accomplishment.
As a perfect example of his vintage temperament, Richman played several games late in his junior season with a fractured fibula, battling through the pain of a significant injury when he easily could have decided to shut it down with an eye on his football future. But he cared too much about his coaches and teammates to pack it in. That’s not in his DNA, so he kept grinding out for the love of the game with a toughness that would make Jack Youngblood proud.
“It's who he is. It's who he is as a person,” Barnett said. “He’s an everyday guy. You really pump the brakes and look back on his four years and you realize how special of a kid he was. Most players have a handful of down days, bad days, a bad practice here or whatever. That never really happened with Mason. And his expectations for himself are higher than any coach could put on him. So those kids are not only fun to coach, but when adversity hits and things like that, they don't flinch much. And yeah, the kid’s just, he's wired a different way.”
Early on in his college career, like most college offensive linemen, Richman endured his share of struggles on the field, including having trouble dealing with more powerful defensive ends. In his first three seasons as a starter protecting the blind side, Pro Football Focus never graded him higher than a 58.3 in pass protection as he allowed 10 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, and 58 pressures. His run blocking proved to be a bit more consistent, though PFF gave him a subpar 41.5 grade in that department in 2023.
But Richman gradually made strides throughout his career under the tutelage of Barnett and enjoyed a breakout senior season for the Hawkeyes, yielding just seven pressures - sixth fewest among qualified tackles - and two sacks on 316 pass blocking snaps. He also finished 33rd at the FBS level with an excellent 76.9 zone blocking grade, which really stands out considering Iowa called zone runs on 77 percent of their rushing plays last season, and ultimately played a big role in Seattle’s interest in him as a pro prospect to plug into offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s zone-centric system.
From Barnett’s perspective, the key to Richman’s improvement starts and finishes with his transformation from a fundamentally sound, detailed player into a far more physical blocker with his own distinct style during the course of his four seasons at Iowa, learning how to “cut it loose” as he got stronger and played faster to go with his outstanding technique, light, agile footwork, and football acumen.
“He's got really good feet. His knowledge base is really high. He could tell you what everyone's doing on every play at a very young age,” Richman remarked. “Just very invested, very wired in, extremely analytical, thinks out everything he does, a lot of pride in what he does on a daily basis. Just a joy to watch.”
Looking at Richman’s pro prospects, the Kansas native faces a tall task as a seventh-round selection, especially considering the depth the Seahawks currently have at the tackle position. Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas will open the season as fourth-year starters, while veteran Josh Jones brings starting experience at both tackle spots as the lone offensive line addition made by general manager John Schneider in free agency and the organization remains bullish on 2024 sixth-round pick Mike Jerrell’s long-term future after starting a handful of games as a rookie.
But compared to most organizations in the NFL, Seattle has had a pretty high hit rate on seventh round picks during the Schneider era, as running backs Kenny McIntosh and receiver Dareke Young have earned roster spots from the past four draft classes and players such as Chris Carson, David Moore, and Malcolm Smith carved out substantial roles for playoff teams after being selected in the final round. With a new offensive line coach in John Benton taking the reins, he may be more inclined to keep his style of players, preferring athletic blockers like Richman over returning players who don’t fit the scheme as well.
Having watched Richman excel with a workmanlike attitude, Barnett doesn’t have any doubts that his former pupil has the talent, tools, and desire to push for a roster spot with the Seahawks, seeing a ton of similarities between Iowa’s offense and the one Kubiak will deploy that should cater well to his strengths. His potential to play inside at guard or even center also will improve his odds of sticking around and paired with a seasoned instructor in Benton, as long as the young lineman stays within himself, he views the landing spot in the Pacific Northwest as the “perfect match” for him to succeed.
“He's going to have a great everyday outlook and he's going to have a great demeanor in everything he does. And when you do that, you adapt. The good players adapt to the level as opposed to, ‘hey, I got to go change all of this.’ And now you're not your true self and now you have another growing curve to go through. But the biggest thing for him, he's well equipped to play at any level. His [strength] is going to be how well he adapts to the game and with how invested he is and how much he cares. He’s just going to be putting in the time and then as that time goes, he'll quickly adapt to the speed and the physicality of it, for sure.”
