With Pro Football Hall of Fame relatives like father Jason Taylor and uncle Zach Thomas, you might think there isn't a lot left to know about standout LSU tight end Mason Thomas, the Jets' second-round pick in the '25 draft. But we found five football stories that tell us more about Mason the player and the man.
Thriving at Tiger Stadium
Mason was a two-way force at St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Fort Lauderdale. When it came time to choose a college, the football bigs lined up with scholarship offers: Miami, of course, Pitt and Texas A&M in January '21, Auburn in May, Alabama and Florida in June.
Also in June: LSU. Two things appealed to young Thomas about the Bayour Bengals. One, they were "kind of short on tight ends, so the chance to play is what they told me," he said in the Florida Sun-Sentinel.
And two: "SEC — that's where I feel like I belong. And Death Valley — that place gets loud, rowdy. So it's going to be really fun and it's going to be a really great experience."
Taylor then got to experience it first-hand several times, such as when Tiger Stadium erupted as he hauled in an overtime two-point conversion in LSU's 32-31 win over Alabama in '22.
Freshman Who Played Like a Vet
The Jets have been said to be interested in tight ends for a while. Many wanted them to grab Georgia's Brock Bowers last year, but the Green & White went with T Olu Fashanu at No. 11 and Bowers gamboled to the Raiders two picks later.
This year, the Jets arguably got the next Bowers in Round 2.
"I've been blessed. I've had some great tight ends," LSU HC Brian Kelly said in his first radio show of the '22 preseason. "I've got seven of them right now that are active in the NFL.
"Mason Taylor is as good as any freshman tight end that I've had. He's going to hit like the kid from Georgia hit, where he blew up in the SEC as a true freshman."
Taylor's freshman year was very good. His next two years cemented his reputation as, according to those who should know in the school's sports information department, "the most productive tight end in LSU history."
A Real Pro at Pro Day
The physical part of his game, if it wasn't apparent from game video, showed up at LSU's pro day last month. (He didn't do athletic testing in Indy.) It's never apples-to-apples when comparing pro day numbers to NFL Combine metrics, but regardless, Mason helped himself with a strong showing.
He was timed at 4.65 seconds in the 40, did 28 reps in the bench press, and turned in a 7.06 in the 3-cone. The 40 and bench would have been second among TEs at the combine, and the 3-cone would have been fourth.
Mysterious Metrics
Asked at the combine who his favorite Dolphins tight end is, Mason didn't hesitate.
"Mike Gesicki," he said in a story in the Palm Beach Post. "Athletic, can be a complete tight end, can do it all."
Interesting choice. Thomas sees himself with the same qualities. Gesicki played his first five NFL seasons with the 'Fins at 6-6, 252, barely bigger than Thomas' 6-5, 251. (No mystery there — they are TEs, after all.) And even though Thomas isn't a Garden Stater, he did spend parts of 2010 in North Jersey when his dad, Jason, played for the Jets that one season. And Gesicki hales from Lakewood and went to Southern Regional HS. South Jersey but still Jersey.
But what's eerie about Thomas' Gesicki declaration was that he made it two months before the Jets drafted him in Round 2, 42nd overall, of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday. Seven years earlier, Miami selected Gesicki in Round 2 ... 42nd overall.
Safety Valve Supreme
There will be more trivia and anecdotes about Taylor as the Jets move on toward the new season. But one thing stands out now: There aren't too many stories about what he likes to eat, read, listen to. The stories are about Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, and how Mason has worked hard at "tracing their footsteps" through college stardom and into the NFL.
And he's about making a difference for his team. It was suggested that after the 2023 departures of QB Jayden Daniels and WRs Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas for the pros, Thomas became a "safety valve" for LSU's reworked offense. He didn't disagree.
"I feel like that's true in some ways," he told The Daily Advertiser last September. "I think on some third downs and we need something, I'm the type of guy that gets hidden, then pops out somewhere. I think that's one of my roles, but I feel like I can do a lot for this offense. I'm ready for anything they give me."
A Real Pro at Pro Day
The physical part of his game, if it wasn't apparent from game video, showed up at LSU's pro day last month. (He didn't do athletic testing in Indy.) It's never apples-to-apples when comparing pro day numbers to NFL Combine metrics, but regardless, Mason helped himself with a strong showing.
He was timed at 4.65 seconds in the 40, did 28 reps in the bench press, and turned in a 7.06 in the 3-cone. The 40 and bench would have been second among TEs at the combine, and the 3-cone would have been fourth.
Mysterious Metrics
Asked at the combine who his favorite Dolphins tight end is, Mason didn't hesitate.
"Mike Gesicki," he said in a story in the Palm Beach Post. "Athletic, can be a complete tight end, can do it all."
Interesting choice. Thomas sees himself with the same qualities. Gesicki played his first five NFL seasons with the 'Fins at 6-6, 252, barely bigger than Thomas' 6-5, 251. (No mystery there — they are TEs, after all.) And even though Thomas isn't a Garden Stater, he did spend parts of 2010 in North Jersey when his dad, Jason, played for the Jets that one season. And Gesicki hales from Lakewood and went to Southern Regional HS. South Jersey but still Jersey.
But what's eerie about Thomas' Gesicki declaration was that he made it two months before the Jets drafted him in Round 2, 42nd overall, of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday. Seven years earlier, Miami selected Gesicki in Round 2 ... 42nd overall.
Safety Valve Supreme
There will be more trivia and anecdotes about Taylor as the Jets move on toward the new season. But one thing stands out now: There aren't too many stories about what he likes to eat, read, listen to. The stories are about Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, and how Mason has worked hard at "tracing their footsteps" through college stardom and into the NFL.
And he's about making a difference for his team. It was suggested that after the 2023 departures of QB Jayden Daniels and WRs Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas for the pros, Thomas became a "safety valve" for LSU's reworked offense. He didn't disagree.
"I feel like that's true in some ways," he told The Daily Advertiser last September. "I think on some third downs and we need something, I'm the type of guy that gets hidden, then pops out somewhere. I think that's one of my roles, but I feel like I can do a lot for this offense. I'm ready for anything they give me."
