2021 Countdown to Kickoff: 85 Days (Khameron Taylor)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2021 Countdown to Kickoff is well underway now. There are 85 days remaining until the Indiana Hoosiers are playing in Kinnick Stadium against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Eighty-five is a popular number and there are a pair of Hoosiers sporting those digits: Khameron Taylor and McCall Ray.

Name: Khameron Taylor

Hometown: Alchua, Florida (University of South Alabama)

Position: Tight End

Year: Redshirt Senior

Height/Weight: 6’4”/261 pounds

The tight end position is a unique one and can be filled by a few different types of players. Some tight ends are large-bodied pass catchers that line up in the slot or even out wide and effectively serve as wide receivers. Others are primarily blockers that play in run specific situations and rarely get thrown the ball. The most common use of the position would be a hybrid of the two. A player that can excel as an extra blocker while getting approximately three to five targets per game. Indiana is a good representative of this diversity at tight end. Peyton Hendershot is largely deployed as a pass-catching threat while Matt Bjorson is more of a blocker but he does get some targets. The IU offense and the tight end position group has been missing a guy like Khameron Taylor. Taylor, a graduate student at IU, is back after missing all of last season with a season-ending injury. He transferred to Indiana after four seasons at South Alabama, a place where he made 14 starts. Taylor is more than 260 pounds and he has the ability to help the Hoosiers as a physical blocker.

“You’re looking for a guy that’s going to fit the needs,” position coach Kevin Wright said of Taylor in 2020. “I think that what we’ve found in Kham was a guy that had predominantly been a blocker in the offense he was in and also who is a really good athlete who has the potential to catch the football.”

The Hoosiers struggled at times in short-yardage running situations and they’ll want to avoid using quarterback Michael Penix to pick up first downs with his legs. That could mean an increased role for someone like Taylor as an extra blocker that can help churn out yards on the ground or release and become a receiving threat. While he will be behind Hendershot and Bjorson for snaps and likely for targets, he has a unique build and skillset that could give him more playing time than other tight ends like AJ Barner.