Ole Miss' Evan Engram, Iowa's Jake Duzey, Arkansas' Hunter Henry and Stanford's Austin Hooper are among the top candidates for the 2015 Mackey Award, presented annually to the top tight end in college football.
The Mackey Award watch list, released Wednesday, includes 33 of the nation's best players at the position.
Engram is the only player on the watch list who was a finalist for the honor last season. Engram caught 38 passes for 662 yards and two scores as a slot tight end for the Rebels last season. Henry, Duzey and Hooper have been identified as three top pro prospects at the position by NFL Media analyst Lance Zierlein.
Florida State's Nick O'Leary -- a sixth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2015 NFL Draft -- was the 2014 winner of the Mackey Award.
Semifinalists for the award will be announced Nov. 16, finalists on Nov. 24, and the winner on Dec. 9.
Schedule of award watch list releases:
Tuesday, July 7: Bednarik Award and Maxwell Award
Wednesday, July 8: Mackey Award and Rimington Trophy
Thursday, July 9: Lou Groza Award and Ray Guy Award
Friday, July 10: Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy
Monday, July 13: Jim Thorpe Award
Tuesday, July 14: Butkus Award and Rotary Lombardi Award
Wednesday, July 15: Biletnikoff Award and Wuerffel Trophy
Thursday, July 16: Davey O'Brien Award and Doak Walker Award
Friday, July 17: Walter Camp Award
John Mackey Award watch list
Jerell Adams, South Carolina
Jake Butt, Michigan
Kyle Carter, Penn State
Kivon Cartwright, Colorado State
Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick, Southern Cal
Alan Cross, Memphis
Braxton Deaver, Duke
Jake Duzey, Iowa
Evan Engram, Ole Miss
Billy Freeman, San Jose State
Jarred Gipson, Nevada
David Grinnage, N.C. State
Darion Griswold, Arkansas State
Hunter Henry, Arkansas
Tyler Higbee, Western Kentucky
Bucky Hodges, Virginia Tech
J.P. Holtz, Pittsburgh
Austin Hooper, Stanford
O.J. Howard, Alabama
Jordan Leggett, Clemson
Ryan Malleck, Virginia Tech
Jake McGee, Florida
Johnny Mundt, Oregon
Joshua Perkins, Washington
Jake Phillips, UNLV
Josiah Price, Michigan State
Sean Price, USF
Steven Scheu, Vanderbilt
Cam Serigne, Wake Forest
Jonnu Smith, Florida International
Nick Vannett, Ohio State
Steven Walker, Colorado State
Bryce Williams, East Carolina
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