Ben Bass

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vertigho

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Via "Blogging the Boys":

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2014...n-bass-profile-defensive-line-3-tech-DE-DL-DT

Two years ago, Bass was a little-known entity trying to make the club off a wing and a prayer. However, it was clear early that he was a much better player than what was seen of him at Texas A&M. Bass made an impression from his first pro game, a preseason tilt against Oakland.

The Cowboys defense had two clear second half stars; Adrian Hamilton and Ben Bass. They were all over the backfield in the second half and continuously made life difficult for Pryor. Bass ended up with four tackles and a sack. Both players might have earned an opportunity to play against more than the oppositions third-teamers.

In fact, Dallas had seen everything they needed to see. The team basically hid him for the rest of the 2012 preseason!

Ben Bass had an outstanding Week One preseason game and Dallas has been trying to hide him in hopes of sneaking him onto the practice squad. The problem is, teams have already noticed him. Bryan Broaddus said yesterday that there were seven scouts he sat with at that Oakland game and most of them really liked what they saw; including teams that would make him a 4-3 DE.
It worked, and Bass would improve his skillset to the point of being called up to the big club that November. He was on injured reserve less than a month later.

Last summer in Oxnard, as the Cowboys were preparing for the season, they were of course missing Jay Ratliff. At the time, Dallas' plans were to have a rotation of Ratliff and Hatcher as the three-techniques, but "Jeremiah" was busy faking his way off the team. Here's what then-impending free agent Hatcher had to say about Bass.

"Bass has it all," Cowboys starting defensive tackle Jason Hatcher said. "Bass is going to be the reason I’m playing on a different team next year. He’s coming on. He’s coming on. I just have to keep my job security, keep playing my butt off." - DMN

That's not exactly the way things went down, but it's clear that Hatcher was impressed with Bass' ability. It didn't just start last summer, either. Here's what Hatcher had to say about Bass prior to being called up to the 53-man roster in November 2012.

Jason Hatcher says Ben Bass 'has been kicking you-know-what on the practice squad all year against our 1 offensive line.'

Hatcher went on to say that Ben Bass and Tyrone Crawford 'are the future here. I'm just going to enjoy my time, play my butt off, while I'm here.' - Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

One key is these high praises came from Bass performing at positions other than 3-tech. He had been moved to defensive end last camp, thanks to injuries to Spencer and Tyrone Crawford. In 2012, Bass was playing 5-tech in the Cowboys 3-4 alignment. Suffice to say, he's been getting glowing recommendations up and down the line.

Head coach Jason Garrett talked about his ascent from obscurity prior to that 2012 call up.

"Great example of guy, came in presented with an opportunity," coach Jason Garrett said. "You try to draft guys as well as you can draft them, then you sign guys as well as you can sign them after and you think you know more about some than the other guys. We liked him, but from Day 1 he came in and showed us be belonged here in some way, shape or form.

"He really took advantage of the opportunities. He learned. He grew before our eyes and just made a lot of plays both defending the run and also rushing the passer. He’s the guy, kind of came from nowhere, certainly from obscurity and showed us he deserved to be on this football team." - ESPN Dallas
What kind of obscurity? Try not even being invited to Dallas Day even though he hails from Plano, TX and attended Texas A&M University. Here's a profile I wrote on Bass when he was simply another UDFA trying to make the team:

So, just who is this Ben Bass guy? He's a hard person to develop a profile for; but he obviously performed well enough in his rookie-minicamp tryout for the Dallas Cowboys to make the team sign him to the 90th and final roster spot available. Ben Bass plays defensive end and hails from Texas A&M and he's been added to the list of possibilities as Dallas attempts to garner more pressure from it's defensive front.

Bass stands 6'4" and weighs in at 285 lbs. Coming out of school, he seems to be the prototypical height/weight for what the Cowboys look for in a defensive end. Of course, Texas A&M wasn't known for their defensive prowess though as Bass amassed only two sacks and 4.5 tackles for losses in his final year as an Aggie.

Well, his second "final" year. In an interesting twist, it appears that Bass left the Aggie program after Mike Sherman's first year at the helm due to both football and academic reasons. He righted his ship however, cracking down on the books and earning his way back into school before earning his way back onto the football team.

"I [also] think that commitment lasts until your playing time is over. I'm real big on commitment and I'm real big on finishing what I started, and what I started was A&M and I have to finish." - AggieSports.com

That re-dedication makes Bass intriguing; though Dallas didn't invite him to Valley Ranch for a pre-draft visit despite him attending Plano West. It made sense, as he wasn't ranked by any of the "draft gurus", including Drafttek's 400 name database. Fortunately, one of Drafttek's key evaluators, Long Ball, is a Blogging The Boys member and provided us with the following insight.

"Outstanding prep career at Plano West High School (saw him play a few games) and was in a recruiting "tug-of-war" between OU and A&M . . . went to Aggie-land and had a so-so career, hurt more by lack of talent on defense as much as anything. Has an NFL-ready body for a 3-4 DE at 6'4" and 285, quick off the snap, needs to be coached up on recognition."

Humble beginnings to say the least. Now, Bass enters his third season with the team which is normally the "light switch" year for players from meager profile pedigrees. We all know the Cowboys ability to hit on seventh-round and UDFA players, so we shouldn't be shocked to see Bass emerge as another success story. When the draft comes around May 8th-10th, don't become alarmed if Dallas doesn't flood the interior defensive line 4 or 5 picks.

Honestly speaking, Bass isn't in a position to prevent them from spending resources. Just looking at him being rated 43 out of 53 roster spots during last year's preseason says temper expectations. However he is certainly in a position to provide Dallas with the quality depth they need for a viable, stocked rotation.

If his career follows the trajectory I think it will, Ben Bass might be in need of a different theme song.
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Hmmmmm. Maybe I'll take an extra look or two at this guy and see if it looks like he does "have it all".

He certainly doesn't have much production to look at.
 
Hawg73 said:
Hmmmmm. Maybe I'll take an extra look or two at this guy and see if it looks like he does "have it all".

He certainly doesn't have much production to look at.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Seymour's stat line often didn't look too impressive either tho.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
Yeah, Seymour's stat line often didn't look too impressive either tho.
Click to expand...

Mebbe so, but it seems to be my burden to be the resident crusty curmudgeon to provide some sort of balance to all the starry-eyed dreamers who think everybody that dons the Flying Elvis was born on the Planet Krypton.

*cough, cough* Jarvisjones *cough, cough*

I'm not calling you a dreamer, per se, I just like to see a guy do something first before I start getting cranked about him and the Cowboys aren't so stacked that they should just let a talented kid go for nothing. Then again, the Cowboys are one dumb phucking organization and it all starts at the top.
 
I thought the Cowboys had to rebuild their DL-but then have a guy to trade??
 
Hawg73 said:
Mebbe so, but it seems to be my burden to be the resident crusty curmudgeon to provide some sort of balance to all the starry-eyed dreamers who think everybody that dons the Flying Elvis was born on the Planet Krypton.

*cough, cough* Jarvisjones *cough, cough*

I'm not calling you a dreamer, per se, I just like to see a guy do something first before I start getting cranked about him and the Cowboys aren't so stacked that they should just let a talented kid go for nothing. Then again, the Cowboys are one dumb phucking organization and it all starts at the top.
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Pah!

It's much more fun my way.

To have your hopes soar like Icarus, only to get too high and melt like wings of wax.
 
As soon as I heard about the trade, the name "Ben Bass" rang a bell for me, but I couldn't remember why. I thought maybe he was a guy who'd "popped" in Shrine Game or Senior Bowl practices, but I couldn't find him on either roster. Then I thought he might have been on the Pats pre-draft contact list for that draft, but no (though Darius Fleming was). Then I read the account above and I think I remember seeing him in that pre-season game (back then, I was kind of obsessed with watching as many pre-season games as I could to their bitter ends - scouting for guys who might become available to the Pats in final cuts).

Eh. Whatever.

I presume that the Pats had been scouting him since his Texas A&M days or maybe before, and that they didn't simply accept the guy from Dallas because he was the right size or because of his one good 2012 pre-season game.

I really don't know what, if any, plans they might have for Bass post-Camp. For the moment, he seems to be a guy who fits what they appeared to be working on during Tuesday's practice who maybe can fill in better for the injured guys than the Samoan Contingent, and who might have some developmental potential, though not necessarily as a contributor for 2014. In any case, I'm not really concerned about whether or not he makes the 53. Hell, he could be gone by next Wednesday. If he doesn't make the roster (and his chances seems slim at this point), no great loss since Green wasn't going to, either. Maybe they find a way to slide him through to the PS, if he shows up well enough in practices.

BTW, his pro day numbers aren't exactly stunning:

5.07/40 - 1.77/10yd - (na reps) - 28" vert - 107" broad - 5.06 ss - 7.82 3-cone

Numbers like that, maybe they'd consider him for the OL instead.
 
MaineMan said:
As soon as I heard about the trade, the name "Ben Bass" rang a bell for me, but I couldn't remember why. I thought maybe he was a guy who'd "popped" in Shrine Game or Senior Bowl practices, but I couldn't find him on either roster. Then I thought he might have been on the Pats pre-draft contact list for that draft, but no (though Darius Fleming was). Then I read the account above and I think I remember seeing him in that pre-season game (back then, I was kind of obsessed with watching as many pre-season games as I could to their bitter ends - scouting for guys who might become available to the Pats in final cuts).

Eh. Whatever.

I presume that the Pats had been scouting him since his Texas A&M days or maybe before, and that they didn't simply accept the guy from Dallas because he was the right size or because of his one good 2012 pre-season game.

I really don't know what, if any, plans they might have for Bass post-Camp. For the moment, he seems to be a guy who fits what they appeared to be working on during Tuesday's practice who maybe can fill in better for the injured guys than the Samoan Contingent, and who might have some developmental potential, though not necessarily as a contributor for 2014. In any case, I'm not really concerned about whether or not he makes the 53. Hell, he could be gone by next Wednesday. If he doesn't make the roster (and his chances seems slim at this point), no great loss since Green wasn't going to, either. Maybe they find a way to slide him through to the PS, if he shows up well enough in practices.

BTW, his pro day numbers aren't exactly stunning:

5.07/40 - 1.77/10yd - (na reps) - 28" vert - 107" broad - 5.06 ss - 7.82 3-cone

Numbers like that, maybe they'd consider him for the OL instead.
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No. You don't understand. One of his ex-teammates told us.

HE'S GOT IT ALL

Please don't muddy the issue with empirical data.

Wouldn't it be great if he sticks and turns out to be a real cocky SOB?

Then we could call him Bigmouth Bass.
 
Hawg73 said:
Mebbe so, but it seems to be my burden to be the resident crusty curmudgeon to provide some sort of balance to all the starry-eyed dreamers who think everybody that dons the Flying Elvis was born on the Planet Krypton.

*cough, cough* Jarvisjones *cough, cough*

I'm not calling you a dreamer, per se, I just like to see a guy do something first before I start getting cranked about him and the Cowboys aren't so stacked that they should just let a talented kid go for nothing. Then again, the Cowboys are one dumb phucking organization and it all starts at the top.
Click to expand...

Order the rings.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
Yeah, Seymour's stat line often didn't look too impressive either tho.
Click to expand...

Well he did have 1 1/2 sacks his last year in the pass-happy SEC, and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end.

:coffee:
 
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