NEW ORLEANS – Four of the Sun Belt’s best tight ends were tabbed to the preseason John Mackey Award Watch List as announced Wednesday.
 
Appalachian State’s Barrett Burns, Georgia State’s Keith Rucker, Idaho’s Buck Cowan, and South Alabama’s Gerald Everett were all pegged to the list.
 
Barrett Burns
Appalachian State
Tight End • Senior • 6-4 • 250 • Psychology
Turning in a solid 2015 campaign, Burns led the Mountaineers with a team-high eight receiving touchdowns along with 163 yards and 15 receptions. He inserted himself in the record books where his touchdown production was tied for a sixth all-time in one season while tying the single-season school record for most touchdown catches by a tight end (Daniel Bettis - 2005). A red-zone threat for the Mountaineers, over half of Burns’ receptions went for six points. For his performance last season, Burns was a Sun Belt honorable-mention selection. The senior tight end scored in seven of 13 games last season, including a stretch of four-straight contests where he found the pylon. In the thrilling come-from-behind 31-29 Camellia Bowl victory over Ohio, Burns played a pivotal role where he caught a pair of touchdown passes.  For his career, Burns has recorded 51 catches for 497 yards and 11 touchdowns, which is tied for 10th all-time in program history in touchdown receptions.
 
Keith Rucker
Georgia State
Tight End • Senior • 6-3 • 245 • Speech
Second-team All-Sun Belt in 2015 ... Third on the team with 39 receptions for 522 yards and second with six touchdown catches, despite missing three games due to injury ... Over his last six games, averaged 5.5 receptions and 69.1 yards per game with five touchdowns ... Career day in win over Troy with 10 receptions (one shy of GSU record) for 154 yards, including four catches of longer than 20 yards ... Three catches for 48 yards in win over Georgia Southern, including a 4-yard touchdown. Set up the score with a 29-yard catch down to the 4-yard line...Honorable mention selection as John Mackey Tight End of the Week after he caught two touchdown passes at Arkansas State (25 and 9 yards), finishing with five receptions for 61 yards...Caught two more touchdowns against UL Lafayette, giving him four touchdowns in two games. Caught an 8-yard scoring pass and then made a spectacular, one-handed 3-yard touchdown catch that was worthy of the SportsCenter Top 10. Finished the game with six catches for 51 yards.
 
Buck Cowan
Idaho
Tight End • Senior • 6-3 • 224 • Business/Economics
Emerged as one of the nation’s premier tight ends in 2015 ... finished the season with 48 catches for 624 yards – fourth among FBS tight ends ... also caught four touchdown passes and was known for his blocking ability as well ... long reception was 37 yards ... twice had games of more than 100 yards receiving (107 on seven catches vs. Wofford and 118 on 10 catches at Auburn) ... 10 receptions is a career high ... moved to tight end from receiver in the spring of 2015.
 
 
Gerald Everett
Tight End • Senior • 6-4 • 225 • Interdisciplinary Studies
Was chosen first-team all-Sun Belt Conference and named to the league’s All-Newcomer Team after leading the Jaguars in receptions (41), receiving yards (575), touchdown catches (eight) and total touchdowns scored (12) ... Ended the campaign ranked sixth nationally among tight ends in receiving yards per game and is tied for 11th at the position in the country in catches per contest ... Tied the school record for touchdown catches in a season, also ranking among the top 10 in program history for receptions and receiving yards in a year … Scored a touchdown in seven straight games from Sept. 19-Nov. 12, the second-longest streak in program history and the longest since moving to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision ... Earned the coaches’ weekly tight end award following each of the Jags’ five wins ... Tied for the team lead with nine catches of 20 or more yards ... Caught multiple passes in 11 of South’s 12 games ... Selected the John Mackey Tight End of the Week on Oct. 7 after catching a team-leading five passes for 45 yards and two touchdowns in victory at Troy.