Taylor Thompson

#17 · TE · Sr. · James Madison6′3″ · 235 lb · Prattville, AL

Taylor Thompson: TE · James Madison · #17.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Casey KellyOle Miss · 2021 · 84% season match
Miller McCrumbyArkansas State · 2024 · 82% season match
Eli WilsonApp State · 2024 · 80% season match
Henry PearsonApp State · 2022 · 73% season match
Trent PennixNC State · 2021 · 72% season match

Taylor Thompson

TE · James Madison · Sr · #17

Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. Played for three head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Will Healy, Peter Rossomando and Bob Chesney. One game to point at: 91 receiving yards and 5 receptions against Ball State — Week 5, 2024.

Style of play

Play style

No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2024	James Madison	33	448	13.6	6	36
2022	Charlotte	14	263	18.8	0	40
2021	Charlotte	18	127	7.1	1	28
2020	Charlotte	12	190	15.8	1	41
Career		77	1,028	13.4	8	41

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 30-7@ Charlotte	2	30	15.0	0	15
Wk 2	W 13-6vs Gardner-Webb	3	26	8.7	0	13
Wk 4	W 70-50@ North Carolina	2	26	13.0	1	13
Wk 5	W 63-7vs Ball State	5	91	18.2	1	23	Season-high 91 yds
Wk 6	L 19-21@ UL Monroe	5	59	11.8	0	16
Wk 7	W 39-7vs Coastal Carolina	2	58	29.0	1	33
Wk 8	L 14-28@ Georgia Southern	3	16	5.3	0	6
Wk 9	W 32-15vs Southern Miss	2	15	7.5	1	10
Wk 11	W 38-7vs Georgia State	3	42	14.0	1	20
Wk 12	W 35-32@ Old Dominion	2	20	10.0	0	14
Wk 13	L 20-34@ App State	2	8	4.0	0	4
Wk 14	L 33-35vs Marshall	1	36	36.0	0	36
Bowl	W 27-17vs Western Kentucky	1	21	21.0	1	21
Total		33	448	13.6	6	36

Signature game

Week 5 · 2024

W 63-7

vs Ball State

5 rec · 91 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 56-point win at home against Ball State.

With A. Barnett — 280 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 91.7 · 52 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · G. Pettaway — 35 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD · 1 rec · 4 yds

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 1 · Western Kentucky · 3rd and 8 · Q4 · EPA +3.37Billy Atkins pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 21 yds for a TD (Noe Ruelas KICK)
Week 5 · Ball State · 3rd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +3.10Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 22 yds for a TD (Noe Ruelas KICK)
Week 11 · Georgia State · 3rd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +2.99Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 12 yds for a TD (Noe Ruelas KICK)
Week 7 · Coastal Carolina · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.80Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 33 yds to the CCU 44 for a
Week 7 · Coastal Carolina · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.70Barnett II to Thompson: a 25-yard pass.
Week 4 · North Carolina · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.54Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 13 yds for a TD (Noe Ruelas KICK)

4 more plays

Week 9 · Southern Miss · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 10 yds for a TD (Cristiano Rosa KICK)
Week 5 · Ball State · 3rd and 4 · Q3 · EPA +2.40Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 23 yds to the BALL 26 for a
Week 5 · Ball State · 3rd and 16 · Q4 · EPA +2.10Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 22 yds to the JMU 35 for a
Week 4 · North Carolina · 2nd and 7 · Q3 · EPA +1.71Alonza Barnett III pass complete to Taylor Thompson for 13 yds to the JMU 41 for a

Teams and coaches

2020Charlotte2-4HC: Will Healy · Run-leaning

2021Charlotte5-7HC: Will Healy · Balanced

2022Charlotte3-9HC: Will Healy and Peter Rossomando · Balanced

2024James Madison9-4HC: Bob Chesney · Run-leaning

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 59 (#27 of 135). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2024 season

59Quality starter #27 of 135 · 2024?

10 metrics · season cumulative

2024 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: td rate (90th percentile). Strength: rec tds (90th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#58 / 610 · 90th pct

13.5%

Explosive rate#178 / 610 · 71st pct

18.9%

Yards / catch#205 / 610 · 66th pct

13.2

EPA / target#259 / 610 · 58th pct

0.93

Catch rate#398 / 610 · 35th pct

86.5%

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#13 / 168 · 90th pct

Rec yards#25 / 168 · 85th pct

448

Yards / catch#26 / 168 · 84th pct

13.6

Receptions#40 / 168 · 76th pct

Long catch#66 / 168 · 59th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2024. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.7	44.7	18.9	0.7
Road6g	2.7	26.5	9.8	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.9	44.4	16.7	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	22.8	12.8	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2024 season

Head Coach

Bob Chesney

Pass share

42.8%

381 pass / 509 run

Plays / game

68.5

13 games

Team sack rate

7.9%

416 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

33 catches in 13 games, about as many catches a game as a typical FBS tight end who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

59 · #27 of 135 TEs · 2024

Three-star recruit. Now #27 at the position.

Taylor Thompson

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

Starter

Five seasons, two schools

Moves

2020 5 games

2023