West Virginia University football's tight ends accounted for 16.6% of the Mountaineers' total receptions last year, and the position group will likely remain roughly the same this fall.
In the latest edition of Gold and Blue Nation’s WVU football roster review series, we take a look at assistant coach Blaine Stewart’s tight ends room.
Cole Taylor
Cole Taylor is West Virginia's No. 3 receiver in the class of 2023 and returns as a senior for his sophomore season in Morgantown this fall.
The 6-foot-7, 250-pound tight end was Colorado's No. 4 high school prospect in 2020, according to 247Sports, and enrolled at LSU as a three-star recruit. At LSU, he had 17 catches for 159 yards and one score in three seasons before transferring to WVU. 55 of those 159 yards came in 2022.
Last year, he was WVU's leading pass-catching tight end, recording 444 yards receiving (12.7 yards per reception) and four touchdowns.
Taylor missed West Virginia's spring program after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery but is expected to be ready for the Mountaineers' season opener against Penn State.
Treylan Davis
Though it might not look like it on the stat sheet, Davis (2023, two receptions, two yards) is coming off another productive season in Morgantown, where he appeared in all 13 games as a member of special teams and as the team's No. 2 tight end, primarily serving as an extra blocker in the running game.
“He's always been big and strong. [player]” said Stewart.[We] “He loves the body he's in, but if he wants to take the next step, he works with a nutritionist and goes through a body recomposition process, which he did. He didn't lose weight, but he lost about three percent body fat.”
He is set to play a similar role in 2024.
His best collegiate season so far as a pass catcher came in 2022 when he had five catches for 51 yards as a redshirt freshman.
Will Dixon
With Taylor being limited for spring training, redshirt sophomore Will Dixon practiced with the first-team players along with Davis.
“Will can score and he can draw any play,” Stewart said. “But [with] Any young tight end knows the complex 'why' when the defensive situation changes, and Will is beginning to show that.”
He redshirted as a freshman in 2022 and played in five games last fall, mostly on special teams.
The Hillsboro, New Jersey native averaged over 13 yards per reception and scored four touchdowns as a senior, and set a school single-season record for a defenseman with 13 sacks as a senior.
Completing the depth chart
- Jack Samarko
- Victor Wikstrom
- Noah Braham
Review of previous position groups
For daily roster analysis this week, visit GoldAndBlueNation.com. All coverage also is available in the free Gold and Blue Nation app, available for download on Apple and Android devices.