It goes overlooked, but the tight end position requires proficiency in two areas: receiving and blocking.
The latter category is often neglected by the general public due to the difficulty of evaluating it. There are no readily available stats for analyzing blocking in the way that there are for receiving. So, NFL tight ends are generally ranked by their receiving skills with little attention given to blocking.
But the New York Jets’ new coaching staff is familiar with the importance of having tight ends who can block.
Head coach Aaron Glenn, offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, and offensive line coach Steve Heiden are coming over from a Detroit Lions team that heavily utilized multi-tight end packages on offense. These packages were designed to emphasize physicality in the run game. As the trio flies east together, it is fair to believe they will carry over Detroit’s valuation of tight end blocking to New York.
In 2024, Detroit ranked second in the NFL with 12.1 rush attempts per game with a “12 personnel” package on the field (1 RB/2 TE/2 WR). When using those packages, the Lions often ran behind their tight ends. Detroit ran toward the strong side of the formation on 52.9% of their rush attempts out of 12 personnel, placing fifth in the NFL.
Heiden is New York’s offensive line coach, but he was the tight ends coach in Detroit over the last two seasons. The Jets’ decision to hire a former tight ends coach to lead their offensive line signals that they essentially view the tight ends as an extension of the offensive line.
Justin Fields’ presence at quarterback further accentuates the importance of the tight ends’ blocking. Run-first quarterbacks in the NFL are often supplemented by a high usage rate of heavy personnel packages; look at Lamar Jackson’s Ravens and Jalen Hurts’ Eagles. The Jets are going to run the ball a ton, and they are going to do it with multiple tight ends on the field.
So… can the Jets trust their current TE1 as a blocker?
Second-round pick Mason Taylor is the runaway favorite to start for the Jets at tight end. With his only competitors being Jeremy Ruckert and Stone Smartt, Taylor should secure the top spot on the depth chart with ease.
Despite their lack of tight end talent and the obvious importance of having quality tight ends in their offense, the Jets mostly ignored the position in free agency. They signed Smartt, a converted quarterback who is more of a quasi-receiver than a true tight end, but that’s all. With Tyler Conklin walking in free agency, the Jets were looking at Smartt and Ruckert as their top two tight ends – not ideal.
Barring a surprising trade, Taylor will go down as the team’s only significant investment at the position. The 21-year-old will take on a heavy burden in his rookie season – not just as a receiver, but as a blocker.
Taylor’s resume as a receiver is highly intriguing, which is why the Jets took him 42nd overall. In 2024, he had the sixth-most receptions among Power 4 tight ends (55) while dropping just one pass.
The Jets can feel relatively comfortable about Taylor’s ability to contribute as a receiver in his rookie year. The major question is whether he can block.
You’ve seen his box-score stats and receiving highlights, but now, it’s time to dive into Mason Taylor’s resume as a blocker.
By the numbers
The only available metric for evaluating college blocking is PFF’s grading system, so we’ll roll with those as a baseline before diving into the film.
In 2024, Taylor earned a 59.1 run-blocking grade at PFF. This placed him in the 57th percentile among qualified FBS tight ends (185 players with 200+ blocking snaps).
As a pass-blocker, Taylor posted a 63.9 grade, placing in the 60th percentile.
Based on these grades, Taylor was a slightly above-average blocker among college tight ends. Projecting to the NFL, that isn’t the greatest sign. With the jump in competition, you can assume his production will drop significantly from where it was in college.
It is worth noting that LSU trusted Taylor with a hefty dosage of pass-blocking reps, and he handled them well. Taylor ranked ninth among FBS tight ends with 93 pass-blocking snaps, and he was credited with allowing only three pressures (although the film arguably shows more than that).
Overall, Taylor’s statistical profile as a blocker is decent. His sample size and efficiency as a pass blocker are promising, but it is concerning that his run blocking rates as only slightly above-average among his college peers.
The film
I watched the film of Taylor’s 2024 games against Texas A&M and South Carolina, honing in on his blocking. I clipped anything that stood out (both good and bad).
Taylor comes in with very wide hands and allows pressure to the inside, forcing the QB to escape the pocket.
In a similar situation to the first clip, Taylor does a better job of countering the inside move and keeping the pocket clean.
Taylor spreads his hands too wide and leaves his chest wide open, allowing the edge defender to splash him and disengage to pursue the play.
On the back side of a designed sprint-out for the QB, Taylor does a good job of getting his hips turned and contacting the back side defender to reduce his chances of getting to the QB.
Motioning from the left side of your screen, Taylor targets an unsuspecting defender and gives him a nice shot. Future AFC East rival Will Campbell gives him props.
After confirming that the left tackle will pick up the 5-tech, Taylor turns his attention to the LB looping outside and does a good job of setting the edge.
Sifting across the formation, Taylor trips on his left tackle and grasps at air as he blocks nobody. Not the best spatial awareness here, as the LT’s block is perfectly fine and should not have impeded Taylor.
This is a good one-on-one pass set from Taylor. His hands come in wide once again (you will see that often in this review), but he manages to work his right hand into the defender’s chest, where he establishes a firm grip. Taylor shows some solid lower-body strength to stay anchored despite the initial blow to his body.
I don’t think Taylor is a low-effort blocker, but I noticed him take a few plays off. From a flexed alignment here, Taylor climbs to block the safety, but he barely attempts to engage.
Lined up in the backfield, Taylor identifies the correct assignment and impressively swallows up the blitz.
Taylor creates significant lateral movement on this inside zone play. The RB would have had a huge cutback lane behind Taylor had the left guard not gotten cooked.
Taylor lines up next to the QB as LSU attempts a goal-line tush push, but Taylor does not appear to generate any noticeable movement, and the sneak is stuffed.
Sifting across the formation, Taylor tries lowering his shoulder to take out the edge defender, but he is thrown into the ground, and his man ends up contributing to the tackle. It’s not the worst job, as Taylor did halt his man at the spot (he wouldn’t have been involved in the tackle if the runner weren’t knocked into him), but you want to see Taylor stay on his feet.
Taylor does a great job of pinning his man inside.
Sifting across the formation to block the edge, Taylor whiffs, allowing his man to have a chance at a TFL. The defender luckily misses the tackle (give Taylor some credit for staying with the play and pushing the defender off the RB), but this is a bad angle from Taylor that should have resulted in a loss of yardage.
Taylor is manhandled on the edge. Yet again coming in with wide hands, the defender keeps his hands tight and fires both into Taylor’s chest, knocking him far inside. The RB runs into Taylor as he tries bouncing outside, and then the defender sheds Taylor to finish the stop.
This is a bad blitz pickup from Taylor, as he is quickly scorched with a club-rip move. Again, it is hard to block people when your hands are so wide that it looks like you are trying to give them a hug.
Taylor does a good job in this one-on-one situation; he influences the defender toward his help to the inside, reducing the number of paths to the QB.
Taylor reaches for this block and doesn’t get his feet under him, allowing the defender to easily beat him with a club-swim.
On a fourth-and-1 attempt, Taylor lets his man win inside and halt the runner’s progress short of the marker.
Taylor lets his man get outside with a swim move, and it leads to the QB getting drilled.
What happened in the end zone? Who knows, but we get a great view of a loyal Gamecock fan’s head. His hat looks quite dirty and needs a thorough cleaning if it is to be worn in public again.
Taylor draws a tough assignment here. The ball is snapped while he is sifting across the formation, and he has to take the edge rusher in a one-on-one pass set as part of a long-developing deep concept.
Once again seeking a warm hug from the defender, Taylor instead gets hit with a splash to the chest followed by a rip move, leading to a hit and a pick-six. (A horse collar penalty called this play back.)
Are the Jets putting too much on Taylor’s plate?
Taylor’s blocking should be viewed as a work in progress. He is by no means hopeless in this area, but he is far from a sure thing.
Taylor has the physical makeup to be a capable blocker in the NFL, and he shows some impressive flashes here and there. He has good recognition skills when it comes to diagnosing assignments (particularly in pass protection), he moves smoothly, and he is versed in handling a wide variety of blocking roles.
The mistakes are aplenty, though. Most importantly, Taylor’s hand placement needs immense improvement. NFL defensive ends will consistently steamroll him if he continues to keep his hands wide. He also takes some poor angles as a move blocker and occasionally gives a “meh” effort.
Overall, I did not get the sense that Taylor is a tenacious blocker. He is usually on the outskirts of the pile after a play and rarely gets scrappy. There is not much “oomph” to his blocks; he consistently puts in effort and does his job, but is not one to make his presence felt.
If Taylor only graded out as a slightly above-average blocker against college opponents, he will grade much worse against NFL opponents if he does not improve. He projects as a below-average NFL blocker prior to any development with the coaching staff.
I am not sure that Taylor has the potential to be a “great” blocker at the pro level. He doesn’t have any overwhelming physical traits, nor does he showcase unique enthusiasm for blocking. Especially when you consider he was nowhere close to a dominant blocker in college, it seems fair to suggest that his NFL ceiling is “good enough.”
If Taylor can develop into a strong receiver, “good enough” is definitely good enough to justify his second-round billing. Most of the league’s best receiving tight ends aren’t great blockers. Still, most of them are capable enough to stay on the field for high snap counts without hurting the team or needing to be used in a predictable, one-dimensional way.
Not every starting tight end can be Rob Gronkowski or George Kittle, but if you have Mike Gesicki-level blocking skills, it will hurt your impact no matter how good of a receiver you are. Being able to contribute both ways is the core of the position’s existence.
The bar for Taylor’s blocking depends on his performance as a receiver. If he is a great receiver, the Jets can live with “good enough” blocking. If he is only an average receiver, the Jets will need a little more from him in the blocking game to get second-round impact.
Taylor will need time to develop his blocking, though. The tight end position is widely believed to have one of the steepest learning curves in the sport. It is no surprise, considering they essentially need to learn how to be an offensive lineman and a wide receiver all at once.
It begs the question: Are the Jets counting too heavily on Taylor going into 2025?
Taylor could be a solid NFL blocker one day, but it’s no guarantee, and even if he gets there, it seems more likely that it will be in a future season, not his rookie year. If the Jets go into the season with their current tight end depth chart, they will be at a great risk of having precisely zero tight ends who can block at a competent level.
Unfortunately, it may be too late for the Jets to correct this mistake. The time to add veteran depth at tight end was March. Right now, the only free agent tight end who blocked at an above-average level in 2024 (per PFF grades, minimum 100 run-block snaps) was Marcedes Lewis, who is 40 years old. Otherwise, the Jets will not find a free agent tight end who significantly raises their blocking floor.
It looks like Taylor will be asked to take on a heavy blocking workload in his rookie year, for better or worse. The good news is that Taylor will get the reps he needs to develop. The bad news is that if he doesn’t develop quickly, the Jets’ tight end unit might be doomed in the blocking department, and Taylor will draw undeserved flak because New York threw too much on his plate too early.
