Interview: 3-Star 2021 Arkansas TE Mason Brotherton Updates Season, Talks Kansas Recruitment
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
What do you get when you combine big, mean, strong, fast, versatile, and determined to win into a football player, you get Mason Brotherton. The 6-4.5, 235-pound, three-star recruit is a tight end, slot, outside receiver, and H-back all tied into one. And all that talent is headed to Lawrence, Kansas, next season.
For four years Brotherton has been a matchup nightmare for defensive coordinators, one that has not properly been figured out beyond double- and triple-teams. His sophomore season ended with 27 receptions for 476 yards two scores and he followed that up in 2019 with 21 passes hauled in for 272 yards with five more scores. This season his Mena High School squad is picking up steam at the right time as the 4A Arkansas playoffs are around the corner. The Bearcats are 5-3 with their leader hauling in 38 passes for 444 yards and three scores while carrying the rock seven times out of the backfield for 23 yards in short-yardage situations.
On April 21, Brotherton verbally committed to Kansas with seven offers on the table. Picking up on that growing connection with the Jayhawks’ coaching staff and the activity on the gridiron during his senior season, Brotherton stopped by the RNG Lab for another conversation.
*Click link for previous Mason Brotherton RNG interview
Interview
Mason, the Bearcats have come out with a 5-3 record winning four consecutive games. What’s been clicking for you guys since the midway point of the season?
The whole team, being honest, is coming together. Our offensive line is coming together giving our quarterback more time to throw and allowing him to be more comfortable. We knew at 1-3 that is not who we are, and we had bigger goals. We’ve played together our whole lives, to be 1-3 is not like us. Our non-conference schedule was tough and the “second season” is not any easier, but we’ve started playing better and now we are rolling.
Running the Spread attack, how is the offensive coordinator getting you the ball this season?
They are putting me in motion, I’m running the ball on sweeps, and sometimes they use me to get other people open. I am ready when my name is called. Our offensive coordinator has a variety of routes and plays for me. I do get the ball a bunch, but we share it well between all the receivers and running backs. We all contribute.
Which routes are you running this season?
The whole route tree. Throughout the offseason I worked on all the routes, I wanted to be ready. I am running deep routes, outs, drags, mesh, and whips. This year we have predominately been a passing team. After our 1-3 start, since we got on our streak, we’ve been 60-40 pass-run. Teams are dropping back against us, so we are running short and quick game stuff. That has been clicking; bubble screens and things like that. We are sticking to that. Occasionally I will go deep on a post or flag and get open.
How are defenses lining up and covering you?
Defenses have been sagging back, they usually play a 3-4 and they’ll have an outside linebacker and a safety on me in a Cover 4. Against that, the underneath stuff works. I have been double-teamed all season. In Week 3 we saw Cover 1 and Cover 0; they did a good job against us in that coverage. For me, I have seen double and triple-teams all season.
Regardless, every day I am working on my releases and my routes working to get open and doing whatever I can no matter who is covering me so my quarterback can get me the ball.
You are showing some additional skills to the set this season. One thing I have noticed is the footwork and nimble feet, especially on routes to the boundary. What are some of the other areas where you are showing a big improvement in your game?
Route running has always been a strength. I am in the slot more this year, this is my fourth year of varsity ball. With this experience, I have a good idea of their coverage and how they will play me. The mental part of the game for me has really expanded. Before the snap based on what I am seeing from the defense, I know my release ahead of time and I know where the backer will go after the snap. That helps my routes.
Like you said my footwork, routes, and my blocking have all improved. Blocking in space is harder than it is on the line. All goes back to your feet and having a good base. I have worked on that a lot.
If I read the schedule correctly, the Bearcats have a bye week and then line up against Lamar for Senior Night next week. What kind of game are you guys expecting against the Warriors (5-2)?
I watched a little bit of film on them. We watched film of our last game and talked about what we can do better and what we will work on in our position group meetings. This week, we are working on ourselves. They have good skill players, but they have to play us at our place. We have been consistent at home. We expect a good team, and we will be ready to play.
What does the team need to do to knock off Lamar to secure a conference title?
We need to play our game, run good routes, block, and catch passes. The past four weeks we’ve been doing that, but we were not doing that over the first four weeks. Now we are super nasty up front and perfecting our assignments. The good outweighs the bad for us. We are working together as one and playing the best football of our lives.
That is exciting news with the playoffs coming up. Back in April you verbally committed to Kansas. Since then, how have you built a bond with the Jayhawks’ coaching staff?
Coach (Josh) Eargle (TE), Coach (Brent) Dearmon (OC), and Coach (Les) Miles (HC), they’ve been the same to me before and since I have committed. When they were persuading me to come to Kansas, they checked on me and my family; that was huge and they are still doing it. They send me and my family letters almost every day. They Zoom and Facetime with recruits, they have a great atmosphere at Kansas and they are building something special. This class will turn things around at Kansas. I am super excited. They have done a great job.
Are you helping with recruiting?
Yes, I am. Well, I was. (4-Star RB) Devin Neal, he’s in Lawrence, and I have a group chat we started on Twitter. We’d send a recruit a group chat invite to him and go get him. On offense, I think we are finished or we are close to being done with the Class of 2021. It will be a great class. We’ve been on people on Twitter. This class is super close. We’ve been talking about our future plans together.
Mason, as always, I appreciate you time today updating us about your season and continuing process with Kansas. Good luck the rest of the way until we talk again.
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Photo credit: Brotherton family; Mason Brotherton