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."