The growth of LSU football TE Mason Taylor and how a former Saints coach has mentored him

BATON ROUGE — Mason Taylor made the catch and turned to his left. All he needed to look for was the pylon and some purple grass.

Taylor, a freshman tight end who signed with LSU football as just a three-star recruit nearly a year ago, had come a long way before this moment, inches away from beating Alabama with a two-point conversion score in overtime. Since joining the LSU (7-2, 5-1 SEC) he gained over 20 pounds, spent hours and hours on the practice field building chemistry with quarterback Jayden Daniels and earned the trust of Coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.

As he turned, all he needed to do was dive forward and the game was over. He did just that and LSU walked away with the 32-31 victory and a chance to clinch the SEC West title with a win at Arkansas (5-4, 2-3) this Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN).

Kelly, at his first radio show a week prior to LSU's season-opener against Florida State, proclaimed that Taylor would be a "hit" like Georgia star Brock Bowers. It was mighty praise, considering that Bowers, a sophomore, had 882 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns for the Bulldogs last season.

"Well, probably the No. 1 surprise of camp is that we hit a home run with Mason Taylor, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Jason Taylor," Kelly said in August. "He's been outstanding. I've been blessed. I've had some great tight ends. I've got seven of them right now who are active in the NFL. And Mason Taylor is as good as any freshman tight end that I've had."

Taylor hasn't reached Bowers-esque levels this season. He has 22 catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns, still good numbers for a freshman.

But his growth has come in ways that can't be shown by the box score.

Taylor has improved as a blocker as the season has gone along, providing a key block that allowed Daniels to scramble for a touchdown on LSU's first offensive snap of overtime. He's become stronger and his knowledge of the game has grown at one of the more demanding positions in Denbrock's offense.

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"There's been growth physically and mentally," Kelly said at his weekly press conference on Monday.

Having Denbrock as his tight ends coach, along with being his offensive coordinator, has certainly helped Taylor's development. But Kelly adds that LSU defensive analyst Terry Malone has also been a crucial mentor for Taylor.

Malone was the tight ends coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-14, and before then the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach from 1997-05. In his career, he's also served as a tight ends coach at Bowling Green, Purdue and Holy Cross.

"Terry Malone is an unsung hero for us on our staff. And Terry was with the New Orleans Saints. He's coached the tight end position. He's been an offensive coordinator," Kelly said. "To have an asset like that, to assist coach Denbrock on a day-to-day basis has really helped develop Mason and Terry's done a really good job."

Malone, Denbrock and Kelly have all been instrumental in his development. But Taylor was the one who caught the ball on Saturday and kept the Tigers' hopes of reaching the SEC Championship game and College Football Playoff alive.

"(Catching the two-point conversion) just means a lot. It means Coach Kelly, Coach Denbrock and the coaches trust me and Jayden trusts me with the ball," Taylor said.

Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football, Mason Taylor's improved with help by former Saints coach