UGA Duo Named to Mackey Award Watch List
A potential exciting young duo in the Georgia passing game was named to the 2021 John Mackey Award watch list. Sophomore tight end Darnell Washington and sophomore receiver Arik Gilbert were named to the watch list.
The Mackey Award is given to "college football's most outstanding tight end" at the end of each year. The most recent winner was former Florida tight end Kyle Pitts.
Interestingly enough, throughout last season, there was hope that both Gilbert and Washington could become the "next Kyle Pitts" that takes college football by storm with their athletic, pass-catching abilities.
In his freshman season at Georgia, Washington saw his role develop throughout the season. Washington's usage as a pass-catcher particularly grew in the last four games of the season when JT Daniels was the quarterback. The freshman recorded seven catches for 166 yards.
While Washington was slowly getting acclimated to the college level and adjusting to Georgia's new offense under coordinator Todd Monken, LSU's Gilbert was thrown right into the deep end. Gilbert finished his freshman year with 35 receptions and 368 yards with two touchdowns.
Gilbert transferred to Georgia this offseason after opting out of LSU's final game of the season due to "homesickness." Since transferring to Georgia, he has been listed as a wide receiver and expects to be seeing time at the x-receiver spot, formerly held by George Pickens.
With Pickens out for an expected large amount of this season, it doesn't look likely Georgia will use the former LSU Tiger at tight end.
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