Ben Mason has been a Swiss Army knife of sorts for the Michigan Wolverines since he arrived on campus and has played in a variety of roles. Coming into this year, he had pretty strictly been known as a fullback and someone to hammer the middle of the line of scrimmage in short-yardage and goal line situations.
With the Wolverines going to more of a pro-spread system under Josh Gattis, the need for a fullback on the field diminished greatly, but Jim Harbaugh still saw a football player in every sense of the world that he wanted to get as many snaps as possible.