Sometimes the hardest critic somebody can have in the game of football is none other than themselves and at times that has certainly been the case for tight end Kole Taylor.
Taylor has hauled in 11 catches for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the first four games of the season and is averaging almost an identical 12-plus yards per catch over his breakout 2023 campaign.
During that season, Taylor led West Virginia in catches with 35, which is the first time a tight end has done that since the 1991 season with Alex Shook grabbing 23 balls.
But Taylor believes that there is still room for him to increase those totals within the framework of the offense. And there are things he has done well to this point, while he needs to improve in others.
“I always kind of look at myself and not necessarily as an offense as a whole as to what I can do better,” Taylor said. “I haven’t gotten the touches that I wanted maybe because I haven’t been getting open enough.”
Taylor said that he is in the process of figuring out what he can do better, but he can only control what he can control. And for the senior tight end that is finding ways to get the football with his route running to make himself a more attractive option to target while potentially freeing up more for his teammates.
The way that Taylor sees it is if he is able to get open he could get the football or draw attention away from other players on the field to allow the offense to be more successful as a whole.
“I got to create more space and get a little more open,” he said. “That’s kind of where I’m at right now.”
But even with that being said, Taylor is simply focused on winning football games and understands that as long as he does his role the numbers don’t necessarily matter.
“I’m just going to run the play that’s called. Hopefully, the ball finds me, but I’m never worried about my stats,” Taylor said.
Oklahoma State has given up four touchdowns on the season to the tight end position through the first five games of the year, which could present opportunities but Taylor the focus is on finding a way to win. That won’t be easy traveling to Stillwater, but it’s the approach that the team must have over the final eight games.
“I know we understand that this is a must-win game, and kind of moving forward, every game is a must-win game,” Taylor said.
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