All-conference tight end among top prospects for 2020 NFL Draft
NEW YORK, N.Y., JULY 19, 2019 – USF senior Mitchell Wilcox was named to the 2019 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List on Friday, the award given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end.
It marked the third straight season for Wilcox (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) to be named to the Mackey Award Watch List and the seventh consecutive year USF has placed at least one tight end on the list. In addition, he is one of only four tight ends in the American Athletic Conference to make the watch list.
Wilcox was named among the top five tight end prospects for the 2020 NFL Draft earlier this summer by NFL.com Senior Analyst Gil Brandt.
Wilcox appeared in 12 games last season and led all AAC tight ends with a USF single-season school record 540 receiving yards by a tight end on his way to earning All-AAC First Team accolades. He finished the season with 43 catches and set a USF single-season school record for receptions by a tight end. Wilcox reached the end zone twice in 2018 and had six games with at least four catches. He’ll enter the 2019 season having already set a USF tight end record with 976 career receiving yards. He needs just four more receptions to own every USF tight end record as he enters his final campaign with 72 career catches.
One of the top tight end blockers in the nation, Wilcox helped paved the way for USF running back Jordan Cronkrite (Miami, Fla.) post the ninth 1,000-yard rushing season in program history and tie the program record with five straight 100-yard rushing games in 2018. Wilcox was also instrumental in helping Cronkrite rush for a USF and AAC record 302 yards to go along with three touchdowns in a win at UMass.
The John Mackey Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit NCFAA.org to learn more about the association.
NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position. A tight end by whom all others are measured, Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by his Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program’s 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
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Brian Siegrist
Associate AD – Communications
University of South Florida Athletics
GoUSFBulls.com
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