LSU Tight End Mason Taylor Following In Dad’s Footsteps At Senior Bowl

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

MOBILE, Alabama – Former LSU tight end Mason Taylor’s route went full circle this week at the Senior Bowl practices.

He was beating defensive backs and catching touchdowns as his dad – Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end/linebacker Jason Taylor – watched on the sidelines like Mason was a kid in Miami again with his dad playing for the Dolphins.

“It was awesome,” Taylor told Tiger Rag after the American team’s final practice Thursday afternoon at Hancock Whitney Stadium. “The experience of these guys out there and competing against them was an awesome experience. And my dad played in this game, so that’s kind of cool.”

The elder Taylor is now the defensive ends coach for the Miami Hurricanes and was at practices this week. The American team with five LSU players will play the National team Saturday (1:30 p.m., NFL Network).

“That’s just surreal,” Mason Taylor said of playing in the same Senior Bowl in which his dad did. “It has always been a dream to play in the NFL ever since I was watching dad and running around in the Dolphins stadium. It really hasn’t hit me and become a reality yet.”

Jason Taylor played in the 1997 Senior Bowl for Akron before becoming a third round pick by Miami, where he played through 2007 and again in 2009 and ’11. Mason was born on May 8, 2004. Jason Taylor has taken his coaching hat off around his son this week.

“I’m just being dad,” he told reporters. “I’m here to support – whatever it is. He understands. He’s been around the lifestyle for a long time. He saw what it took growing up,” Taylor said. “He works his tail off. He’s a self-starter. He knows what to do. If there’s ever any questions, I’ll tell him more what not to do, what to stay away from. Kind of give the guardrails a little bit.”

Mason Taylor vs Billy Bowman Jr. @seniorbowl #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/YzRf9CugE5

— Brenski Sharpe (@B_Sharpe) January 29, 2025

National team defenders had trouble guarding Taylor this week. He shook one defender so well he fell over the middle before a touchdown and beat another deep for a score.

“Just talking to all these teams and all these players from all over the country has been great,” Mason said. “Finally getting to see them without a helmet is big and getting to meet them. You’ve got to run routes on safeties and cornerbacks and linebackers and block big guys, so jus seeing their personalities and how they play the game here definitely helps.”

Meanwhile, Mason is again showing what he showed for three seasons at LSU.

“Mason Taylor is what we all thought he was,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said at the Senior Bowl Thursday. “And that is a extremely talented tight end who shows himself against the very best. And we all knew that coming in.”

Kelly visited with Taylor and other Tigers here – offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr., offensive guard/tackle Miles Frazier, offensive guard Garrett Dellinger and defensive end Sai’vion Jones.

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“They know he can play,” Jason Taylor said. “They saw him play for three years in Baton Rouge. They saw what he could do. They see his maturity level in interviews – his football maturity, his maturity in life. He is a young guy, just 20, but mature beyond his years. He came out here and had a heck of a week at the Senior Bowl.”

Taylor is LSU’s all-time leading tight end receiver with 129 catches and 1,308 yards in three seasons and 38 games. He also caught the walk-off, two-point conversion catch in overtime to beat Alabama, 32-31, as a freshman in 2022. He ended his career with at least one catch in his last 28 games.

It’s a circular route for dad, too.

“It’s a great process to go through on this side of the table now to watch him live out his dream,” he said. “I’m not coaching. I’m not mentoring – just being dad and what that entails.”

Mason Taylor is projected to go in the third round – just like dad – in the seven-round draft on April 24-26 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“Just trying to continue to improve on being that complete tight end,” he said. “And doing everything that a tight end does.”