Emerging College Football Star Draws RG3 Comparison At SEC Media Days

Every July, coaches stand at a podium and say nice things about their quarterback. Most of it means nothing by October. Jeff Lebby said something in Tampa on Thursday that is worth a second look, because of who said it and where he was standing when he watched the guy he brought up.

A reporter asked the Mississippi State head coach if any quarterback he had coached or watched reminded him of Kamario Taylor.

"Yeah, I think the closest comparison obviously is RG3 and our time at Baylor," Lebby said. "The athleticism, the ability to throw the football down the field and the arm talent. I think that's the closest comparison that I've seen with my eyes in practice every day and on Saturdays."

Why Jeff Lebby comparing Kamario Taylor to Robert Griffin III means something

Lebby joined the Baylor staff in 2008 and spent nine seasons there, starting as an offensive quality control assistant before moving to running backs coach and then passing game coordinator. He was in that building in 2011, the year Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy.

Kamario Taylor is something special 🔥@HailStateFB pic.twitter.com/WkDKHZ7Iff
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) July 23, 2026

RG3 comparisons get thrown around constantly and almost always by people who never stood 10 yards from him in a Tuesday practice, but Lebby did. So when he says he hasn't seen anyone like him since, he is drawing on something most coaches or evaluators making that comparison do not have.

What Kamario Taylor showed as a freshman

The 6-foot-4 sophomore from Macon, Mississippi, played 11 games last season and started the final two. He attempted just 77 passes for 629 yards and five touchdowns while adding 458 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week twice, including in Week 14 against Ole Miss.

Taylor ran for more yards than a lot of SEC backs get in a full season of backup work, and he did it in essentially two starts plus mop-up duty. The passing volume was almost nothing. Nobody knows yet what he looks like at 400 attempts.

Jeff Lebby shares the story of his first time meeting Kamario Taylor

He also reveals his NFL comparison for Kamario: pic.twitter.com/RoSqzHFf3D
— Sam Sklar (@sklarsam_) July 23, 2026

Lebby also told the story of meeting him for the first time, which happened in a high school gym in Noxubee County after Lebby got the Mississippi State job.

"My first impression was he's really athletic, and he's really gifted from a body type standpoint," Lebby said. "I walked in the gym there in Noxubee County, and he was in the gym. That was the first time I met him. And he's shooting it around, throwing it down in slides. And I said, quit playing basketball, young man."

Nick Saban says Kamario Taylor could be the truth

Lebby is not the only one talking. Nick Saban said on SEC Now that Taylor is a guy nobody has really heard much about at Mississippi State and that he could be the truth.

Saban has no reason to inflate a Mississippi State quarterback, so a positive outlook provides a big signal boost for Taylor and the Bulldogs.

What Mississippi State needs in 2026

Mississippi State went 5-8 last season and lost to Wake Forest in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. The defense ranked second-to-last in the SEC in scoring, and that showed up in seven-point home losses to Texas and Tennessee.

This year's schedule doesn't help. The Bulldogs host Alabama and Oklahoma, travel to LSU and Texas, then finish the regular season at Ole Miss. Plus, Mississippi State has a tricky non-conference game on the road when they travel to Minnesota.

KAMARIO TAYLOR MADE 'EM MISS AGAIN AND AGAIN 🐶@HailStateFB x 📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/njd9nFZxod
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 28, 2025

Lebby is 7-18 at Mississippi State over two seasons, so it's understandable why people around the program are looking for reasons to be optimistic.

Taylor has the tools people describe, but he has not yet been asked to carry an offense for a full regular season against SEC defenses, and that is the entire question of the season in Starkville.

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