QB Profile: Mason Binning, Puget Sound

Impressive execution of an offense as designed

It was after his incredible performance against the Willamette Bearcats that I took notice of Mason Binning, quarterback of the Puget Sound Loggers.

The true junior was in his second season as the starter and completed 45/62 passes for 482 yards and 5 touchdowns in his attention-grabbing performance. This result could be taken with a grain of salt as the Bearcats had many struggles in Northwest Conference play this past fall, but it was enough to make me take a look at who this guy was in greater detail.

Mason attended Squalicum High School in Bellingham, Washington and a cursory glance finds that the public school has a greater allotment of athletic fields than many colleges with an artificial turf soccer field, softball field, baseball field, and football field with a track on-site. He appeared to play basketball and baseball in addition to football, though did not continue as a multi-sport athlete at the University of Puget Sound.

Unfortunately, his senior year coincided with concerns around the spread of COVID-19 and the Fall season was cancelled only to play a shortened 5-game schedule in February and March of 2021 which would have limited recruiting for Fall 2021.

One thing led to another and he ended up 125 miles South down the I-5 playing for the Loggers.

With regards to coaching, Puget Sound HC Jeff Thomas has been at the school since 2010 and also acts as the Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach, so his fingerprints are deeply embedded in any assessment of Binning.

My immediate reaction to the film against Willamette was that he played with a ton of confidence in either presnap decisions, or executing the short/quick game with conviction and lightning-fast release. The ball placement on these short passes was nearly perfect every time; on the hands and leading the receiver where they needed to go.

I decided to go back and take a look at every pass in 3 other games for the 6’2” 180lb quarterback and figure out how high his ceiling could be:

• September 2, 2023 vs Lewis & Clark

• October 7, 2023 vs George Fox

• October 21, 2023 vs Linfield

All of these game archives are available to watch on the NWC Network.

Lewis & Clark 38 Puget Sound 42

Mason Binning

• 23/36 258 yards 3 TDs | 8 carries 51 yards 2 TDs

Izaiah Jerenz

• 4 catches 100 yards 2 TDs

JohnJohn Nelson

• 2 catches 11 yards

There appeared to be some rust in this game, but it is clear that he excels at the quick & short game that the offense is built around. I was unaware of just how athletic he is going into this game and although he's not a natural runner up the middle, he has great feet and the speed to break away from most defenders in the open field.

Many of his deeper throws were incomplete but that was tied to the ball drifting out of bounds which isn't the worst thing in the world. He still showed great potential in the deep game as the game went on with some impeccable ball placement.

You'll see why I highlighted his WRs Izaiah Jerenz and JohnJohn Nelson soon, but the leader in this game was sophomore Joe Gallagher with 11 receptions for 103 yards and a TD. He appeared to be injured a couple of weeks later but should be a factor this Fall as Izaiah Jerenz exhausted his eligibility.

The run game seems a little too simplistic but this is an Air Raid derivative offense at its core, so it's understandable. The run game did show a little more variety later in the season.

George Fox 27 Puget Sound 29

Mason Binning

• 41/66 416 yards 1 TD 1 INT | 7 carries 22 yards

Izaiah Jerenz

• 13 catches 154 yards 1 TD

JohnJohn Nelson

• 17 catches 154 yards

This was quite the game with a curious finish, but there was some definite evolution of the offense from the opener against Lewis & Clark. Freshman LB/FB Michael Toa, listed at 5’11” 250 lbs, was featured in the Loggers 2-back short yardage package and excelled. I am glad to see Binning getting experience under center in their short yardage package, even if the play selection is limited.

JohnJohn Nelson was a freshman WR himself, listed at 5’8” 165lbs but he does what's asked of him in the offense and caught a ton of quick passes as well as lining up in the backfield to run routes. I have a soft spot for undersized but quick and tough receivers and look forward to watching him in this offense moving forward.

Simply put, Binning is consistently excellent at the short/quick game in terms of his ball placement and having a quick release. However, he doesn't seem to have the natural arm strength to make throws downfield without having the rest of his body in phase.

Whenever Binning isn't making a quick first-read throw his protection tends to break down quite quickly, limiting his ability to truly go through progressions. At times his pocket awareness looks questionable, but he has the toughness to take hits in order to get the ball out.

Binning also appears to be quite even-keeled, as both of these games so far involved comeback victories and some high-leverage situations that didn't feel different than normal plays based on his body language and execution. In some ways he feels very much like a classic Mike Leach QB as he's comfortable to just keep slinging it and take what the defense will give him.

Linfield 55 Puget Sound 6

Mason Binning

• 24/41 159 yards 1 TD 1 INT | 10 carries 0 yards

Izaiah Jerenz

• 15 catches 110 yards 1 TD

JohnJohn Nelson

• 6 catches 39 yards

This was a very different game as the Loggers were simply overmatched.

Binning’s lone interception in this game wasn't even a particularly bad decision or throw as he had scrambled to the right sideline and attempted to make a throw to a WR in the back corner of the endzone but a defensive back streaked across and made the interception flying out of bounds. If the defender hadn't been there it was likely an excellent throw for a touchdown.

Protection for Binning continued to be a sore spot as there were multiple times a rusher off the edge of the left tackle went unblocked and it was almost impossible to execute anything that wasn't an instant throw off of catching the snap.

Although Mason throws with good anticipation and will hit his receivers in stride, he will stare them down and wait for them to become open before delivering at times. It’s frustrating how often he simply lacks the protection to go through progressions in a normal manner, but his aptitude for quick and accurate execution is a great asset.

The touchdown in this game came in the first quarter as he stepped into a throw down the right seam and hit Jerenz in stride on a post or deep in (hard to tell on the broadcast) and he outran the defense for the Loggers only score. It’s good to see that Binning has those throws in his arsenal when the opportunity presents itself.

All of this being said, I'm excited to watch the Loggers this Fall for Binning’s senior season. I am hopeful that the team can improve on the offensive line, but I also believe that he has the potential to play football past his time at the University of Puget Sound.

If he's interested, I would like to see Binning get a shot with any of the Indoor/Arena Football teams in the Pacific Northwest as I think his ability to play fast with impressive accuracy would translate well to the condensed field.

Izaiah Jerenz finished his college career with a final season of 115 receptions for 1313 yards and 13 TDs in only 9 games as Binning’s top target. It will be interesting to see how his production is replaced by JohnJohn Nelson who could possibly eclipse those numbers as he seeks his first career touchdown this Fall, especially if the Loggers happen to schedule a 10th game.