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Nick Saban has high praise for LSU TE Mason Taylor: ‘He’s gonna be a really good player’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Nick Saban and Alabama hoped to have Mason Taylor as part of their 2022 recruiting class, but the tight end from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. instead went to LSU.
Taylor comes from a rich football background: his father, Jason, was once one of the NFL’s top defensive ends and is now enshrined in Canton in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mason’s uncle, Zach Thomas, was a multiple-time Pro Bowler during a successful NFL career of his own.
The younger Taylor is coming off his best performance of the season: during a win against Ole Miss on Oct. 29, he made 3 catches for 44 yards and scored his first career touchdown.
“I like coaching when they’re on my team better than when they’re on somebody else’s team,” Saban said during his weekly radio show on Thursday ahead of the Tide’s road game against the Tigers. “We actually tried to recruit Jason’s son here. LSU did a good job, they got on him early and he’s gonna be a really good player.”
For the season, Taylor has 19 catches for 178 yards, plus his aforementioned touchdown against Ole Miss.
Saturday’s kickoff between the Crimson Tide and the Tigers in Death Valley is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
