Who Should I Start? AJ Barner or Mason Taylor

Saturday, July 18, 6:00 AM

As a rookie in 2025, New York Jets tight end Mason Taylor led the team in both targets and receptions, but he was unable to build upon some promising early-season momentum or truly take advantage of the opportunity presented by Garrett Wilson's absence. Taylor saw a combined 22 targets in a three-game stretch from Weeks 3 through 5 that made him a popular waiver wire pickup, but even in serving as the de facto number one receiving option for large swaths of the season, he topped five targets in a game only two more times and eventually landed on injured reserve with a neck injury. The Jets have since spent a first-round pick on Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, whose athleticism and physicality stand out in stark contrast to Taylor, who finished his rookie season without a single forced missed tackle. Incapable of consistently producing for fantasy as the top tight end on the team with Wilson sidelined for much of the year, nothing about Taylor's year-two situation suggests a sudden turnaround is on the way, and he is going largely undrafted in 2026 redraft leagues.