re: I expect Mason Taylor to have a breakout season with Nuss at the helm

Nuss targeted Taylor in the Bowl game. Appears they have chemistry.

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He’s a very solid TE imo, but people got a little too excited about him after his freshman year. I feel like people were expecting him to be a Brock Bowers type guy and he’s just not on that level. Not a knock against Mason, I think he just had too high of expectations going into last year.

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This. He's good, but he's not as good as a lot of fans crowned him after his freshman season. And like you mentioned, I think he had unfair expectations put on him because of that. He's just not a very dynamic pass catcher, and isn't great after the catch. Which is fine--what he actually can do has value. He's perfect for that RPO play when we need to pick up 8-9 yards for a 1st down. And will be a good safety valve for Nuss to check down to occasionally.

But he's not athletic enough to line up in the slot to create mismatches or run 20 yard seem routes down the middle of the field. He's not on the same planet as guys like Bowers and Kelce and Kittles (who is?). But that's fine. He's a really good football player, he's smart, you can trust him, and even though I don't think he'll have a bunch of yards next year, I do think he'll make a few clutch plays in big moments that will likely help us win a game or 2. And you need guys like him to win championships. He's more valuable than just his numbers.

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But he's not athletic enough to line up in the slot to create mismatches or run 20 yard seem routes down the middle of the field.

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yes he is


It's hard to say he was mis-used in an offense that was so great, but he was misused.

I suspect the horizontal nature of his route tree was to open up the rest of the field. It was so optically bad, it had to be intentional.

"Why doesnt he break tackles"

well the majority of the catches he made with Jayden caught him running sideways, and outside the hash marks. An easy tackling target for DBs.

He had six games where his average depth of target was 3yds or less.


His performance with Nuss in the bowl game already brought changes with his usage:

He hit the following game-highs for the season:

Receptions: 7
Targets: 7
Yards: 88
Long: 25yds
1st downs: 3
YAC 43yds
Yards/RR 2.93


His ADOT was 6.4yds vs Wisc.

The rest of the season, 4.6yds.