Ole Miss Football’s Prieskorn, Trigg Named to John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List

Ole Miss tight ends Caden Prieskorn and Michael Trigg have been named to the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Friends of John Mackey on Friday.

The Rebel duo are among 48 FBS tight ends and 10 within the SEC named to the watch list for the Mackey Award, which is given out annually to the most outstanding tight end in college football by vote from the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. Ole Miss is one of just seven programs nationally with multiple watch list honorees, as well as one of just two in the SEC alongside reigning national champions, Georgia.

Prieskorn is no stranger to the Mackey Award, having made the semifinalist list in 2022 as a member of the Memphis Tigers. Prieskorn, who has already been named a preseason All-SEC third team selection by Phil Steele, played in 29 games at Memphis after joining the team as a walk-on in 2019. In his career, he hauled in 55 catches for 681 yards and seven touchdowns. Last season, Prieskorn was named first team All-AAC by both Phil Steele and PFF after leading Memphis in receiving yards (602) and tied for the lead in touchdown receptions (7).

This is also a return trip to the watch list for Trigg, who was a preseason honoree in his first year with the Rebels in 2022. Trigg has already been named preseason third team All-SEC by Athlon, and he’ll look to make his way back from injuries that forced him to miss several games last season. In 2022, Trigg played in seven games and made six starts at tight end, recording 17 receptions for 156 yards and three touchdowns – all three of which came against Central Arkansas on Sept. 10, tying the single-game school record.

The Mackey Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.

Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates:

Mon., July 31: Maxwell Award
Tues., Aug. 1: Outland Trophy/Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Wed., Aug. 2: Lou Groza Award/Ray Guy Award
Thurs., Aug. 3: Paul Hornung Award/Wuerffel Trophy
Fri., Aug. 4: Mackey Award/Rimington Trophy
Mon., Aug. 7: Biletnikoff Award
Tues., Aug. 8: Davey O’Brien Award
Wed., Aug. 9: Doak Walker Award
Thurs., Aug. 10: Butkus Award/Paycom Jim Thorpe Award
Fri., Aug. 11: Walter Camp Award
Mon., Aug. 14: Bednarik Award
 

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports