The Best Tight Ends: 2024 Mackey Award Watch List

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The Mackey Award is, as former Florida State tight end Nick O' Leary called it, "The award which all tight ends dream of winning." The 2024 college football season will boast a host of incredible tight ends. Here are five to keep an eye on who might just end up holding the prestigious Mackey Award trophy at year's end.

Benjamin Yurosek, Georgia

To the dismay of everyone in the Southeastern Conference without a 'G' emblazoned on their chest, the Bulldogs have once more stumbled across a potentially great tight end. Yurosek was rather pedestrian during three seasons at Stanford, but if there's any school in the country that could take him from the middle of the pack to the awards stage, it's Georgia. Yurosek certainly has big shoes to fill—both literally and figuratively—with the departure of Brock Bowers, but he seems to be up to the challenge.

Caden Prieskorn, Ole Miss

From one SEC school to another, Prieskorn, like Yurosek, brings experience and talent to the table for an Ole Miss team looking to make the College Football Playoff. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, few linebackers or safeties will be jumping at the opportunity to cover Prieskorn, who could be a matchup nightmare in Lane Kiffin's dynamic offense.

Luke Hasz, Arkansas

The highly touted sophomore out of Bixby, Okla. only played in five games in 2023 before a season-ending injury against Texas A&M, but he showed every bit of the game-changing potential that was advertised.

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His best game as a collegiate player came in the toughest environment in college football, as he had six catches for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 34-31 loss against LSU in Death Valley.

If Hasz's shortened 2023 season was any indication, Arkansas fans are in for one heck of an encore performance. Hasz also has some history on his side: Arkansas is tied with Iowa, Florida and Georgia atop the list of schools with the most Mackey Awards, as DJ Williams (2010) and Hunter Henry (2015) both collected some hardware during their time at Arkansas.

Colston Loveland, Michigan

Fresh off a national championship-winning season in which he had 649 receiving yards and four touchdowns, Loveland will have to be a key contributor in the Wolverines' bid to repeat as champions. Like Hasz, his inexperience may be the only knock on a shiny resume. With one more collegiate season guaranteed after 2024, Loveland will likely be considered a Mackey favorite again in 2025, regardless of his production this season.

Mackey Award Contender: Luke Lachey, Iowa

Lachey epitomizes Iowa and Big Ten Conference football as a whole—strong, physical and gritty. He only played two games in 2023 before an ankle injury derailed his season, but Hawkeye fans should be excited to see the senior tight end bounce back from his injury. If Iowa is to return to the Big 10 championship game or make a run at the national championship, Lachey and the tight end position will be heavily utilized by Kirk Ferentz.