Rams RB Tre Mason Showing off All

St. Louis Rams running back Tre Mason has come a long way over the past few months.

After the high of making the BCS National Championship during his final game in college football, Mason was celebrating again when he became a third-round pick of the St. Louis Rams. Even going as high as the third round is difficult for running backs these days.

Despite that relatively high pick, Mason wasn't guaranteed anything entering training camp.

With Zac Stacy entering his rookie season, the Rams appeared to already have their primary option at Mason's position. Mason wasn't a third-down back, so he didn't immediately take Benny Cunningham's spot on the depth chart, either. In fact, once the preseason started, Mason lost ground on those two backs.

During the preseason, Mason's pass blocking became a major problem. He was repeatedly being blown aside by blitzing defenders, and he often looked confused about his assignments. Pass blocking is often an issue for rookie backs, but not to the extent that Mason's was.

By the time the regular season came around, Mason was a game-day inactive.

For the first four games, and five weeks, of the season, Mason didn't dress. When he did finally dress, he had just six touches against the San Francisco 49ers. Although he only had six touches, he gained 52 yards (40 rushing, 12 receiving).

Those 52 yards didn't immediately earn Mason a larger role, but they were the first steps toward that scenario.

Over the next four weeks, Mason had a combined 58 rush attempts and six receptions. Those rush attempts went for 230 yards (57.5 yards per game), while his receptions went for 27 yards. Mason was averaging four yards per touch and 3.9 yards per carry.

Since then, Mason has a combined 59 rush attempts and five receptions in three games. He has compiled 292 rushing yards on those 58 attempts, averaging five yards per carry and 97 yards per game. His five receptions have gone for 74 yards, adding 14.8 yards per reception and 25 yards per game.

In short, Mason is breaking out.

His pass-protection issues may not be completely resolved, but they're not being highlighted either. Instead, Mason's highlights are coming when he has the football, and he is proving to be an upgrade over the previously impressive Stacy.

Against the Oakland Raiders this past week, Mason had his most impressive and most productive game. The Rams won the game by 52 points to zero, but the rookie running back wasn't simply stockpiling yards against an already-beaten defense.

Instead, he set the tone early on.

On the very first drive of the game, the Rams were incrementally driving their way down the field. After a Tavon Austin screen pass, the offense was set up at the 35-yard line with a 1st-and-10. Mason lined up in the backfield alongside Shaun Hill.

Although Mason is a better runner, his first big play in this game came as a receiver.

The play design and call from offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was brilliant. Instead of running a typical screen pass to Mason from the backfield, the offense faked the run with Mason before faking a pass into the flat to Austin on the left side of the field.

The timing of this play call was also important because the Rams had just run two effective screen plays with Austin, so the defense was always going to be alert to his presence.

Austin's presence and the play fake drew the defenders to the opposite side of the field, leaving Mason in space. Mason actually gets out in front of his own blockers, but it doesn't matter because there is only one defender there, a much slower defensive lineman.

Mason is able to easily get the first down before finding his way to the sideline.

Once there, he simply accelerates down the sideline while benefiting from two downfield blocks to run past the pylon for the score. This kind of explosiveness is what Mason gives you over Stacy. Stacy can replicate his intelligence between the tackles but lacks his physical talent.

Mason added 12 yards on two carries after this play, but he didn't need to wait long until he was striking for the end zone from distance again.

Early in the second quarter, the Rams were backed up close to their own goal line. Mason was lined up behind his quarterback, with a tight end in line to the right and an offset fullback spread to the left. The Raiders were in their base defense with seven defenders in the box and two safeties deep.

Once again, the design of this play is important.

The Rams run a counter play. The offset fullback comes across the formation and is going to be Mason's lead blocker, while the in-line tight end to the right side of the formation runs a route into the flat. That tight end's movement along with the quarterback's movement after he hands the ball off draws the attention of a linebacker and an edge defender to that side.

The edge defender to the bottom of the screen is drawn too far downfield by the quarterback's movement. The quarterback's movement and the route of the tight end draws the outside linebacker to the sideline. Right tackle Joe Barksdale, No. 72, gets a great block on the edge to clear out the initial space.

Mason and his fullback run through the line of scrimmage unopposed onto the second level.

Because the fullback didn't have to block anyone, he is able to run down the field to locate the deep safety. The deep safety was late reacting to the run and extremely deep because of the routes that were run to his side of the field.

The fullback is able to clear out the safety, allowing Mason to run free down the field for the long touchdown.

On just 14 carries, Mason finished this game with 117 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On just three receptions, he had 47 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. Throughout the four quarters, Mason highlighted how abrasive and versatile of a runner he can be.

He shows off the combination of vision, patience and aggressiveness that the best backs in the NFL all boast.

At just 21 years of age, there's no reason to think Mason can't one day turn into one of the best backs in the NFL, even though he's not quite there just yet. He will still need to improve his pass blocking and versatility as a receiver, but right now that's not a big issue for the Rams.

Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill is the only rookie runner who is outproducing Mason at this point of the season. Hill has twice as many touchdowns as Mason and he averages more yards per carry, but Mason averages more yards per game and has more explosive plays.

While Mason's situation isn't horrible, it's arguably not close to the quality of Hill's.

Taking everything into account, Mason is in a good position to establish himself as the best rookie running back from this class over the second half of the season. At the very least, he is challenging for that mantle just a few months after he was struggling to even get on the field.

Mason is set to finish this season more like he finished his last.

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