How Ka'Morreun Pimpton will give Mason Taylor 'help,' allow Brian Kelly to transform offense

Last year, Mason Taylor burst onto the scene for LSU as a go-to target for Jayden Daniels. But Brian Kelly and Mike Denbrock like to play more than one tight end, which is where Ka’Morreun Pimpton comes into the picture.

Pimpton arrived in Baton Rouge as a four-star recruit, the No. 146 overall prospect and the No. 9-ranked tight end from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. On3’s evaluators were much higher on him, ranking him as the nation’s No. 88 overall recruit and the No. 4 tight end.

Pimpton already opening eyes in camp, according to The Bengal Tiger beat reporter Shea Dixon. His arrival will also allow Kelly and Denbrock to change up the offense in a big way.

“We’ve already set the over-under on touchdowns on our podcast. We moved it from 2.5 to 3.5,” Dixon told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “This is a guy — look, Mason Taylor, we saw him have a breakout year as a freshman tight end. He had the catch at the end of the Alabama game for a touchdown and then in overtime to seal it on the two-point conversion. And he was their go-to guy all year. Well, now, he’s got some help.

“We know that between Kelly and Mike Denbrock, they want to play multiple tight ends. Now, they’ve got the chance to do that. They’ve got a handful of other guys that will be out there more as in-line blockers.”

How Ka’Morreun Pimpton’s recruitment led him to LSU

Ka’Morreun Pimpton didn’t initially commit to LSU. At first, he decided on Vanderbilt. But the Tigers were still in the mix — although they weren’t alone. Texas was also in contention as Pimpton’s home state school.

The rest, as they say, is history as Pimpton chose to flip to LSU. But Dixon had a feeling he’d wind up staying at Vanderbilt based on a unique word choice on social media.

“To describe what kind of kid we’re talking about being committed to Vanderbilt, he used the word ‘sanguine’ … when describing his LSU offer on social media,” Dixon said. “When I saw that, I said he’s sticking with Vanderbilt. No doubt in my mind. But LSU pulled it off.”

Through camp, Dixon said Pimpton has made at least one highlight-reel play per day. That speaks to the high ceiling he has — and the type of impact he can have on the LSU offense, which hasn’t had the best luck with highly rated tight ends the last few years. Well, outside of Taylor, of course.

“We’ve been at all the fall camps. He averages once a week a catch where you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,'” Dixon said. “Get him in the red zone and nobody’s guarding him. He’s such a mismatch. … I think he’s a guy that a lot of people will start to take notice of. And remember, for LSU, Andy, they had Arik Gilbert — the No. 1 tight end in the country — and he lasts half a season during the COVID year. They had Jake Johnson, Max’s younger brother, at the time was the No. 1 tight end in the country. Max transfers to A&M and Jake flips to A&M.

“So this feels like — beyond Mason Taylor — this feels like their chance of capitalizing on a guy who was thought to be sort of head-and-shoulders above everybody else at the position coming out of high school.”