One of the players many Texas Tech football fans would love to see in scarlet and black this fall is Arizona State tight end Jalin Conyers. The Gruver, Texan native is one of the most versatile athletes on the roster and was named to the Mackey Award preseason watch list on Friday.
Last season with the Sun Devils, Conyers had 454 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. He’ll have to do even better in 2024 if he wants to win the Mackey Award, given annually to the nation’s best tight end.
The 2023 winner of the award, Brock Bowers of Georgia, had 714 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 10 games played. Of course, other factors come into play, such as run and pass blocking, but ultimately almost all awards are based on statistics.
The Mackey Award is named after John Mackey, a long-time NFL tight end. The Mackey Award website states, “The award is dedicated to the life of John Mackey himself and is designed to encourage true passion and dedication while increasing health awareness for the game of football in schools, particularly colleges, and among youth in general.”
Mackey Award Watchlist → Jalin Conyers ⭐️@therealjconyers | #DestroyEm pic.twitter.com/TjkUW2NFIM
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) 9 August 2024
Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, was selected to the Pro Bowl five times and was named to the All-NFL three times. In 2001, he was The John Mackey Award was created by the Nassau County Sports Commission and is given annually to the best college tight end to honor the former Syracuse tight end.
No Texas Tech player has won the Mackey Award. However, a relatively new Red Raider was involved in a minor controversy surrounding the award.
In 2013, Texas Tech tight end Jace Amaro caught 106 passes for 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns, by far the best numbers of any tight end in America.
However, the Mackey Award selection committee did not consider Amaro a true tight end, but more of a wide receiver because he did not spend as much time at the line of scrimmage as a traditional tight end. Therefore, Amaro was not nominated for the award. Had he been eligible, his selection would have been a no-brainer.
This year, Conyers could be used in a similar way to how Amaro was used all those years ago. He is expected to be used throughout the formation, in the backfield, and even at quarterback in certain situations.
However, it seems that he is viewed as a true tight end for the Mackey Award, and hopefully he will put up good enough numbers for the Red Raiders to contend for the award at the end of the season.
