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Only eight college football tight ends were named semi-finalists for the John Mackey Award, and two of them are teammates.
Thursday, the John Mackey Award announced its list of eight semifinalists and Iowa tight ends Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson both made the cut. They were the only B1G tight ends to make the list.
Last year’s winner was Oklahoma tight end Mark Andrews.
Congrats 2018 @JohnMackeyAward SemiFinalists!
Noah Fant, Iowa
TJ Hockenson, Iowa
Albert Okwuegbunam, Missouri
Irv Smith, Alabama
Kaden Smith, Stanford
Jace Sternberger, Texas A&M
Tommy Sweeney, Boston College
Caleb Wilson, UCLAFor more info, visit https://t.co/rxjKGWGrsH!
— John Mackey Award (@JohnMackeyAward) November 15, 2018
Both Fant and Hockenson have been effective in the passing attack and in blocking schemes this season for the Hawkeyes. The two tight ends are the top pass-catchers for Iowa this fall.
Hockenson leads the way with 615 yards and four touchdowns on 39 receptions. Fant has caught 35 passes for 453 yards and six touchdowns.
Since the Mackey Award was started in 2000, the B1G has had four winners. The most recent was Michigan’s Jake Butt, who was the 2016 recipient. Purdue’s Tim Stratton won the first ever award in 2000. Minnesota’s Matt Spaeth was the 2006 award winner.
In 2002, Iowa’s Dallas Clark won the Mackey Award.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB