Mason Taylor is Aaron Glenn’s breakout player for 2026; How does his rookie season rate?
Oct 26, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; New York Jets tight end Mason Taylor (85) celebrates after scoring a touch down during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images At the NFL League Meetings this week, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn made a prediction for which player is set to break out for the Jets in 2026. “I think Mason Taylor is going to have a hell of a year” – Aaron Glenn #Jets — Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) March 31, 2026 This made me wonder a bit about how good Taylor’s rookie year was.
To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by Taylor’s performance. I didn’t see much downfield ability or dynamic playmaking after the catch. I also wasn’t terribly impressed with his blocking.
But let’s talk about context. Did Taylor do well for a rookie? To answer this question, I decided to take a look at how Taylor’s rookie production compared with all tight ends picked in the second round since 2010.
The results were a tad surprising to me. Taylor’s 44 receptions rated third among second round rookie tight ends in this era. His 369 yards ranked sixth.
And his 52. 3 percent success rate on targets was tenth (if we throw out Troy Niklas who was seldom used as a rookie and produced a 100 percent success rate on three targets). The reality is tight end is a difficult position to transition to.