Gang Green Nation
The Jets picked tight end Mason Taylor out of LSU in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Taylor’s success in early Jets practices has been one of the talks of training camp. How much will translate to the field when the games begin for real? Nobody can say at this point.
A better question might be this. What statistics would suggest Taylor is a successful career trajectory.
I decided to take a look at tight ends drafted in the second round since 2010. Of the 28 players, 10 of them have put up an average 30 receiving yards per game or more in their respective careers. All in all, using a pick on a second round ticket gives you around a 1 in 3 chance at finding a 500 yard pass catcher at tight end.
But that’s a longer term discussion. How much should we want Taylor to produce as a rookie?
Of the ten most successful players, Sam LaPorta produced the most as a rookie with 86 catches for 889 yards. Mike Gesicki produced the least with 20 catches for 202 yards.
The average of the ten was 420. The median was 401 yards.
So it seems fair to hope for Taylor to generate somewhere around 400 yards as a rookie. That would be a sign he is on pace to have a successful career. If Taylor surpasses 500 yards, he will be entering rare air. Rob Gronkowski is the only of the ten other than LaPorta to top that figure. Meanwhile if Taylor is in the neighborhood of 200 yards or less it would be a reason to worry, particularly since there isn’t a very robust competition for targets and tight end snaps.
