Raiders' Top Three Tight Ends Were John Mackey Award Finalists

Las Vegas Raiders tight ends Brock Bowers and Harrison Bryant won the John Mack Award, while Michael Mayer was a runner-up.

Apr 26, 2024; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers speaks to the media at Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, NV. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders now have one of the best tight end units in the NFL, even despite having to revamp nearly the entire room last offseason.

Las Vegas will be returning one of the league's most promising tight ends in former second-round pick Michael Mayer, and joining him this year will be one of the top rookies in the league, Brock Bowers, the Raiders' first-round pick from this year's draft. Also in the mix will be veteran tight end Harrison Bryant, whom the Raiders signed as a free agent this offseason.

What do all three of these tight ends have in common? They were all John Mackey Award finalists in college, an annual honor awarded to college football's top tight end.

Bowers, of course, won the award in each of the last two college football seasons. As college football's top tight end, Bowers helped lead Georgia to back-to-back national titles.

Mayer, the only one of the three to not win the John Mackey Award, was a runner-up to Bowers in his final season at Notre Dame. Mayer posted 809 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games with the Fighting Irish. He was also named a consensus All-American that season.

The former Notre Dame tight end had an even better campaign the season prior, having recorded a career-best 840 yards on 71 receptions while scoring seven touchdowns.

Bryant, the oldest of the three, won the John Mackey Award in the 2019 college football season. In what was his final season with Florida Atlantic, Bryant registered 1,004 yards and seven touchdowns on just 65 receptions. He helped lead the Owls to an 11-3 record, including a victory in the Conference USA title game and the Boca Raton Bowl.

Bryant was named a consensus All-American for that season.

To be able to have three players in one position group who were among the best in college football is quite something. Bowers could end up being the best of the three, and he hasn't even played a professional game yet. Meanwhile, the sky is the limit for the up-and-coming Mayer, and Bryant is still relatively young, himself, as he enters just his fifth season in the league.

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