TIGHT END JOSHUA SIMON EARNS SPOT ON JOHN MACKEY AWARD WATCH LIST
NEW YORK, N.Y. — WKU Football tight end Joshua Simon was named to the 2021 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List, it was announced Friday morning. The honor – given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end – has been presented since 2000.
Simon is only 1-of-3 Conference USA tight ends out of 56 total players on the initial list. The winner is ultimately selected by a vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee.
The Dalzell, S.C., native had a productive true freshman campaign on The Hill in 2019, with 30 receptions for 430 yards and four touchdowns. He then followed it up with 33 grabs for 370 yards and three scores in 2020. Simon reached the 80-yard mark twice, with 81 yards against UAB and a season-high 84 in the LendingTree Bowl vs. Georgia State. He led the Hilltoppers with five “explosive” catches of 20-plus yards.
Simon has been voted C-USA Honorable Mention by the league’s coaches in each of his first two years. With seven career touchdown catches, he enters the 2021 season with the seventh-most by a tight end in WKU’s 102-season program history.
The Hilltoppers’ legacy at the tight end position over the past decade has been well-documented. WKU players who have been honored by the John Mackey Award include:
- Kyle Fourtenbary, who was a John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List member in 2019. He was named Honorable Mention Tight End of the Week after catching five passes for a career-high 74 yards in WKU’s 20-14 victory at FIU on Sept. 7, 2019.
- Mik’Quan Deane, who was a John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List member in 2018, before he had 44 receptions for 530 yards and six touchdowns.
- Deon Yelder, who was named John Mackey Tight End of the Week on Oct. 14, 2017, when he had seven receptions for 92 yards and one touchdown in WKU’s 45-14 victory vs. Charlotte. Yelder was also named Honorable Mention Tight End of the Week twice during his senior year, when he had 52 receptions for 688 yards and seven touchdowns.
- Tyler Higbee, who was a John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List member in 2015, before he had 38 receptions for 563 yards and eight touchdowns. Higbee was named John Mackey Tight End of Week on Sept. 3, 2015, when he had four receptions for 102 yards and one touchdown in WKU’s 14-12 victory at Vanderbilt.
- Mitchell Henry, who was a John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List member in 2014, before he had 32 receptions for 489 yards and four touchdowns. Henry was named John Mackey Tight End of the Week on Sept. 13, 2014, when he had seven receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns in WKU’s 50-47 triple-overtime loss at Middle Tennessee.
- Jack Doyle, who was a John Mackey Award Semifinalist in 2012, when he had 53 receptions for 566 yards and five touchdowns. Doyle was named John Mackey Tight End of the Week on Oct. 6, 2011, when he had six receptions for 100 yards in WKU’s 36-33 double-overtime victory at Middle Tennessee.
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 the community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA.
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