Too Deep 96 #27-#31 Prima Donnas, Genetic Marvels and Midmajor Binkies

We got your skill-position players right here with Mason Taylor, Tetairoa McMillian, Luther Burden, Colston Loveland and Jalen Royals.

Looking for wide receivers and tight ends? Look no further than this edition of the Too Deep 96! (Please look further than this edition than the Too Deep 96, because there will be more receivers and tight ends in later editions.)

#27 Mason Taylor, Tight End, LSU

Taylor’s father is Jason Taylor, the Hall of Fame defensive end and Dolphins legend. His mother Katina Taylor is the sister of Zach Thomas, another Dolphins legend and Hall of Famer. Taylor’s parents separated while his father and uncle were still teammates on Nick Saban’s Dolphins teams. Apparently, things were rocky and complicated, as separations often are, and the Taylors did not officially divorce until 2015.

I spent far too much time researching this situation, in part because the sheer amount of Hall of Fame DNA in Taylor’s family tree is intriguing to the point of creepiness (I can’t help but picture Saban as a Mister Sinister-like geneticist; “Mason” sounds a little like “Cable”), but also because Ms. Taylor is rather fetching and very active on social media. Which layers on even more creepiness. If I am beaten to death by two Dolphins greats and an LSU tight end — with my wife’s consent — for some brief Instagram ogling: a) I deserve it; b) it’s been a good run; and c) I will at least die as I have lived: looking for distractions while writing draft profiles.

Where was I?

Taylor has a GOTTA DRAFT HIM highlight, a single play that’s so cool that it will make you forget any nitpicks.

Late in the fourth quarter against Ole Miss, trailing 23-16, facing third-and-10, Taylor works back to catch a 20-ish yard pass from a scrambling-for-dear-life Garrett Nussmeier, slips while turning upfield after the catch, barrels past two would-be tacklers and races 25 yards for an apparent touchdown with a third defender in hot pursuit. Alas, Taylor’s elbow hit the ground when he slipped: the play would have continued in the NFL, but he was down at that spot on the field by college rules.

You can see the play at 17:50 in this highlight reel:

That play doesn’t really encapsulate what Taylor usually does. But it’s an example of what old coaches and other weirdos call being a FOOTBALL PLAYER: coming back for the ball when the quarterback is in peril, making a critical catch, being the “hell” when all hell breaks loose.

Taylor lined up all over the formation, as modern tight ends usually do. He aligned as an H-back frequently, and he often caught short passes after starting out as a blocker, then leaking into the flat or over the middle. Taylor was an effective enough blocker for such tactics to work, and he’s a natural pass catcher who sometimes had to scoop up Nussmeier sinkerballs. Taylor has the speed to stretch the defense, and his chip-and-release routes could really put defenders in a bind.

Taylor has the potential to be a Hunter Henry-type all-purpose tight end who can be a productive possession receiver while blocking well enough to not be a liability in the running game. He’s a better prospect than Michigan’s Colston Loveland because he’s an actual tight end, and he’ll be a heck of a consolation prize for any NFL fans pining for Tyler Warren.

#28 Luther Burden III, Wide Receiver, Mizzou

Burden is like a cross between Stefon Diggs and Deebo Samuel with all the sliders – good AND bad – set to maximum.

Burden forced 25 missed tackles in 2024, the highest figure in the nation for a receiver. He also broke 11 tackles. He was targeted just 81 times in an anemic passing game, so his broken-plus-missed tackle rate per reception of 0.7 also led the nation.

Burden broke 17 tackles and forced 16 misses in 2023. He doesn’t look shifty, but he changes directions and accelerates so quickly that defenders a few strides away cannot locate him.

Burden is not a quick-footed route technician. He glides away from defenders, however, and can make twisting, leaping tightrope receptions. Mizzou quarterbacks Brady Cook and Drew Payne will never be confused for Josh Allen, so Burden often had to adjust to errant throws and outjump defenders if he wanted to catch anything longer than the many screens he was thrown.

So Burden gets an A for contested catches, an A+ for YAC and maybe a C+ for route running. Unfortunately, he’s working on his doctoral thesis on diva receiver behavior.

Burden, who already had a reputation for being difficult entering the 2024 season, drew two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Boston College in September. He got involved in what can best be described as a “mouth-guard fight” with a defender for the first foul; in fairness, Burden was not the instigator. Two plays later, Burden tossed the football into a defender’s face after being knocked out of bounds after a sweep. This wasn’t one of those cases of overzealous college officiating: it was a F**k You gesture that would be flagged at any level.

“I just gotta cut the nonsense out,” Burden said after the game. But the nonsense was back against Texas A&M a few weeks later. A Burden touchdown was called back by a teammate’s penalty. Burton slammed his helmet, gesticulated on the sideline and sat sullenly with his head lolled backward in disgust. Later in the season, Burden took a swing at an Arkansas defender who shoved him, resulting in another 15-yard penalty.

Burden was the WR1 on the NFL.com draft board in early March. He may still be there when you read this. He’s a former 5-star recruit, his YAC capability is incredible, and he ran a 4.41-second Combine 40. He also appears to have the impulse control of a Real Housewife of Ancient Scythia. NFL defenders will bait him into retaliating. Coaches will tire of the sideline drama. And Burden may not be enough of a precision route runner to be worth the hassle. Maybe he will outgrow some of his bad habits, but wide receivers tend to get more melodramatic, not less, as they achieve success and wealth.

Burden makes much more sense as a Day Two selection by a team with a strong leadership structure than as the Top 15 pick some have pegged him as. And if the Steelers draft another one of these dudes who are ready to float off to Cloud Cuckooland after their first touchdown, they deserve what they get.

#29 Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona State

McMillan is a DK Metcalf type. Tall (a strapping 6-foot-4, 219 pounds), fast in a straight line, hands like Vise-Grips, a catch radius as big as a pizza delivery range, but a route tree that’s more of a telephone pole.

Straight-linish receivers have a high bust rate, especially when they are slow to accelerate off the line of scrimmage. McMillan is a leggy fellow who lowers his head and chugs in his first three steps like Thomas the Tank Engine leaving Knapford Station. He can Moss defenders, and he’s very effective using the fluffy cushions college defenders give him to set up stop-routes and comeback routes, but those skills don’t always translate to the NFL when a receiver lacks both initial and lateral quickness.

McMillan suffered a foot injury in spring practice in 2024. It limited him through the summer, and Lance Zierlein’s NFL.com profile suggests that he was more explosive in 2023. A review of the tape reveals that McMillan was indeed quicker off the blocks and snappier at the tops of his routes in 2023. He may not have been as comfortable planting to change direction as he needed to be last season.

The injury and Arizona State’s scattershot quarterback play make McMillan a tricky evaluation. There are more examples of him not getting open as a pass sails over his head (or straight to his defender) than I like to see from a first-round pick. He’s also not as much of a CGI superhero from a traits standpoint as Metcalf. Mike Williams may be McMillan’s ceiling as a well-built boundary threat.

As for the floor, receivers and cornerbacks have a saying: “slow feet don’t eat.”

#30 Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan

Loveland conducted his Combine press conference with his right arm in a sling as a result of surgery to the shoulder he injured against Northwestern late in the 2024 season. I’ve never seen a prospect give an interview at the Combine under such circumstances.

“It’s doing good. It’s feeling great,” Loveland explained. He then offered a detailed recovery timeline. “After three months I am able to run around and catch balls, the whole range. After six months, I can do contact.”

So Loveland will be limited for all of minicamp and the start of training camp. This should not impact his attractiveness to NFL teams, as rookie tight ends are rarely expected to make immediate contributions. But Loveland appears to have slid on media boards a bit. Because, you know, if he’s unavailable until August, that makes two defensive tackles and a slot cornerback better overall prospects than he is. Makes indisputable sense!

Loveland is a 245-pound slot receiver. That’s not a knock on his blocking ability; he’s a pretty good blocker for a slot receiver. Martin Klein and Max Bredeson (who combined for 16 catches) took more snaps as an in-line tight end for the Wolverines than Loveland in 2024. A.J. Barner was the Wolverines’ conventional tight end in 2023 (when Loveland caught 45 passes) and Luke Schoonmaker in 2022 (when he caught 16 as a true freshman).

Loveland was targeted 38 times when lined up as a tight end or H-back last season but 47 times when split wide or in the slot. Loveland’s play style is closer to Puka Nacua than to George Kittle.

Loveland has impressive chops as a receiver. He’s quick-footed, runs crisp routes underneath, snatches the ball from the air, can catch the ball in a crowd and accelerates in a hurry after the catch. He blocks well enough to handle simple assignments. He also earned the Jim Harbaugh Seal of Approval for the 2023 National Champions, and he’s only 21, so he has room to grow.

Few types of prospects are easier to overrate than nominal collegiate tight ends who are really pumped-up receivers. Many of the ones who look like hill giants in college become super-toolsy Jeremy Ruckert-types catching 18 passes per year at the NFL level. With his refined route-running and big-game bona fides, Loveland may be more a Dalton Kincaid-type with the potential to become a productive possession target underneath. Bills fans may not be 100% satisfied with Kincaid’s career path so far, which illustrates the peril of evaluating this sort of player.

#31 Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State

Here’s your binkie receiver, draftnik nation.

Royals put up some Holy S**t numbers in 2024 before suffering a season ending foot injury: 10-112-1 against Temple, 9-211-2 against Boise State, 10-155-1 versus UNLV, 11-188-1 against New Mexico. He went 71-1,080-15 for the 2023 season.

Royals was the best player on a dreadful team in a midmajor conference. He caught passes from five different quarterbacks in the last two years; you have not heard of any of them. The Aggies changed coaches in 2024. They lost all four of the games listed in the last paragraph. Their offensive game plan boiled down to: Here’s the ball, Jalen. Do something! When Royals got hurt, the Aggies appear to have given up passing altogether: he led the team in receptions despite missing 5/12ths of the year.

Royals was, of necessity, a screens-and-bombs receiver who thrived on YAC. There’s more to his game than trying to run away from defenders, however. He’s a savvy route-runner who can set up defenders with subtle moves. He can chase down and fight for errant deep passes (another necessary skill in the Aggies offense). And the YAC ability is real: if the first defender misses, it’s showtime. Royals ran a 4.42-second Combine forty, so his speed is no Mountain West Conference mirage.

It takes some projection to imagine what Royals will do against better cornerbacks when he’s not being force-fed the ball; he did not stand out during Senior Bowl practices. But he’s fun on a bun with the ball in his hands and has experience returning kickoffs. This draft class lacks wow-factor slot playmakers. Royals is worth the draft crush and a Day Two selection based on upside.

Up Next in the Too Deep 96: One-stop shopping for Ohio State fans.