• Mason Taylor is among the most experienced tight ends in the class: Taylor has spent each of the last three seasons as LSU‘s full-time starting tight end,
• Taylor looks to follow in Brian Thomas Jr.’s footsteps: Thomas never graded particularly well out of LSU before becoming an NFL star. Taylor looks to follow in the path of his former teammate.
• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
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Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Saturday, April 12
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Player Performance
Taylor has spent the last three seasons as LSU’s lead tight end. His production hasn’t been nearly as high as other tight ends expected to be drafted on the first two days. Still, he’s also had significantly more competition for touches and quality of opponent. In 2022 and 2023, he has to compete for targets with Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers. With those two out of the picture, he posted notably better numbers in 2024.
Part of Taylor’s production problem could have also been the quarterback. Taylor was targeted 11 times on deep passes in the regular season, the fourth-most for a Power-Four tight end last season. He caught three for 80 yards, and only four of the 11 targets were deemed catchable. While he had Jayden Daniels earlier in his career, Garrett Nussmeier didn’t grade as well as a passer in 2024 as Daniels did in previous years. Taylor’s separation rate was in the 96th percentile among tight ends, suggesting the team may have been a more significant part of the problem.
Our draft guide mentioned multiple times that his strength is a problem, but that should be changeable. Taylor is a bit of a projection based on his limited college production, but that is one area that could change to help him become more productive in the NFL.
Projected Role
Taylor projects to be a receiving tight end, like any tight end that has a pre-draft player profile. The big question is if he can be an every-down tight end.
He measured 6-foot-5 and 251 pounds at the combine, a relatively average weight for a tight end. He posted a 64.5 run-blocking grade over the last three seasons, the second-best among tight ends expected to be picked on the first two days. He has the most run blocks of anyone from those five tight ends. He also has 248 pass blocks, as many as the other four tight ends combined.
Like in college, Taylor could be an every-down tight end in the NFL.
Most Mocked Teams
Kansas City Chiefs
While Travis Kelce didn’t retire this season, he will retire in the next few seasons. While the Chiefs have Noah Gray and Jared Wiley, Taylor could be the long-term solution for the position
Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Goedert has been the subject of trade rumors, given his high salary and the high salaries of other Eagles players. Taylor could fill in nicely for Goedert as another every-down tight end.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos added Evan Engram in free agency, another veteran who is not the long-term solution for their team. The Broncos have a history of rotating several tight ends, so this would not be an ideal landing spot for Taylor.
Bottom Line
Taylor is a very experienced tight end with room to grow. He will need to experience that growth to become a starting NFL tight end, let alone a starting fantasy tight end. If he can reach his full potential, he has a high ceiling.
Footnotes
- Statistics in tables and charts were generally chosen based on their ability to predict future fantasy performance on a per-game or per-opportunity basis or for their ability to describe the player relative to others at the same position.
- “Opportunities” are defined as passing dropbacks, rushing attempts and receiving routes run.
- Numbers are either by season or based on the past three years. For rookies, only college numbers are included. Only NFL numbers are included for non-rookies, even if they played in college during the previous three years.
- Because college competition is easier than NFL competition, most rookies will likely see a decline from their historic numbers.
- Only FBS data is considered for college players and comparisons.
- Kneel-downs are removed from rushing data to provide cleaner quarterback rushing rate statistics.
- The colors for all tables in this article range from blue (good or high) to red (bad or low).
- All percentiles or colors compare the given player to other players with a high sample of opportunities. Generally, the cut-off is one-third of the possible opportunities in the sample. If the player in question doesn’t have enough opportunities, they are still compared, even though they could look good or bad based on the small sample size, which might not be as predictive.
- Information on utilization classifications and their importance can be found here for running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.
This news was originally published on this post .
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