The long wait is nearly over as football fans are less than two months away from the start of the 2014 college football season. With the season approaching, the presenters of various college football awards have started releasing their "watch lists" for the season.
The organizers of the Mackey Award (top tight end) award released a list of 40 players. Perhaps the most intriguing name on the Mackey list is Oklahoma's Blake Bell, who started eight games at quarterback last season and moved to tight end during spring practice. Other names on the Mackey list include Iowa State's E.J. Bibbs, Ohio State's Jeff Heuerman, Alabama's O.J. Howard, Notre Dame's Ben Koyack and Florida State's Nick O'Leary.
John Mackey Award watch list
Rory Anderson, South Carolina
Kennard Backman, Alabama-Birmingham
Blake Bell, Oklahoma
E.J. Bibbs, Iowa State
Pharaoh Brown, Oregon
Kyle Carter, Penn State
Kivon Cartwright, Colorado State
Gerald Christian, Louisville
Braxton Deaver, Duke
Thomas Duarte, UCLA
Luke Eakes, Northern Illinois
Evan Engram, Ole Miss
Billy Freeman, San Jose State
Darion Griswold, Arkansas State
Connor Hamlett, Oregon State
Hunter Henry, Arkansas
Mitchell Henry, Western Kentucky
Jeff Heuerman, Ohio State
Wyatt Houston, Utah State
O.J. Howard, Alabama
Jesse James, Penn State
Malcolm Johnson, Mississippi State
Ben Koyack, Notre Dame
Tyler Kroft, Rutgers
Devin Mahina, BYU
Taylor McNamara, Oklahoma
Jimmy Mundine, Kansas
Johnny Mundt, Oregon
De'Marieya Nelson, Arizona State
Nick O'Leary, Florida State
Casey Pierce, Kent State
Sean Price, South Florida
Jay Rome, Georgia
Tyreese Russell, Eastern Michigan
Wes Saxton, South Alabama
Randall Telfer, USC
Eric Tomlinson, UTEP
C.J. Uzomah, Auburn
Clive Walford, Miami (Fla.)
Maxx Williams, Minnesota
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