Analyze Mason Taylor's matchup for week 10
Start Mason Taylor as a low-end TE1/TE streamer in Week 10 against Cleveland; his 20% target share and seven red-zone looks over the last five games give him a safe floor and a proven ceiling.
The Browns enter MetLife Stadium after their Week 9 bye, ranking 18th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to tight ends—an entirely neutral matchup that neither boosts nor suppresses Taylor’s outlook. With Justin Fields under center, the Jets’ offense has shown it can erupt (39 points vs Cincinnati), and Taylor has become the offense’s most reliable short-area option, commanding a 20.4% target share and 22.6% first-read share since Week 4. Cleveland’s linebackers have allowed 6.3 yards per target to TEs this year, so if Fields looks Taylor’s way early, the rookie could turn five-plus targets into another TE1 weekly finish.
Over his last five games Taylor has posted TE11, TE8 and TE7 weeks, averaging 5.2 targets and 39.8 receiving yards while seeing seven red-zone looks—cementing himself as a top-15 option at the position.
Mason Taylor’s ascent from LSU’s primary tight end—where he logged 45 receiving yards per game as a senior—to the Jets’ most consistent pass-catching weapon at the position has been swift and data-driven. Since Week 4 he owns a 20.4% target share, a number that dwarfs the combined share of New York’s other tight ends and places him in the same usage tier as Dalton Kincaid and T.J. Hockenson over that span. That volume isn’t empty: Taylor’s 22.6% first-read share means he’s the primary option on more than a fifth of the Jets’ designed passes, a role that stabilizes his floor regardless of game script. His seven red-zone targets during this stretch tie him with Sam LaPorta and trail only Travis Kelce and David Njoku among all NFL tight ends, underscoring that the Jets trust the 6'5" rookie in the most critical areas of the field.
The matchup itself is a classic neutral draw. Cleveland’s defense has surrendered only 10.8 PPR points per game to tight ends (18th), but that middling ranking masks a split: when the Browns play man coverage—something they did on 38% of snaps before the bye—linebackers and safeties have allowed a 75% catch rate and three touchdowns to tight ends over the last four weeks. Taylor’s short-area quickness (4.68 forty) and elite catch radius give him an advantage against man-heavy looks, and coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has schemed him into motion at the snap 42% of the time to create free releases. Expect at least five targets, with two coming inside the 20, keeping his weekly floor around 8–9 PPR points.
Finally, contextualize the position. After Kelce, McBride, Bowers, Kincaid, Njoku and LaPorta, the tight-end landscape devolves into a jumble of volatility. Hockenson has one top-12 week since Week 3, Pitts has two total touchdowns, and even Mark Andrews is averaging 3.6 catches over his last five. Taylor’s 5.2 targets per game and consistent red-zone usage make him a rare commodity: a tight end with both a 10-point floor and double-digit-touchdown upside if one of those red-zone looks finds paydirt. In 12-team leagues he’s a locked-in low-end TE1; in deeper formats he’s the premier streamer and a priority waiver add for anyone navigating byes or injuries.