John Mackey Award Watch List: Odds For Best Tight End of 2024-25 College Football Season

As the 2024 college football season at Michigan sportsbooks reaches its apex, it’s worth wondering which standout at one of the most overlooked offensive positions is best suited to grab a marquee award.

The honor in question is the yearly John Mackey Award, given out to the best tight end in the country. Georgia’s Brock Bowers took home the honor in 2022 and 2023 after hauling in 118 passes for 1,656 yards and 13 touchdowns before jet-setting his way to the NFL.

So we have been breaking down odds on which tight end has the best shot at being the heir apparent to Bowers by taking home the Mackey Award. These odds are exclusive to BetMichigan.com, the home of the best Michigan sports betting promos.

2024-25 John Mackey Award (Best TE) Winner Odds

Tight End	College	Odds	Percentage Chance
Tyler Warren	Penn State	+450	18.2%
Oronde Gadsden II	Syracuse	+700	12.5%
Brant Kuithe	Utah	+800	11.1%
Harold Fannin Jr.	Bowling Green	+1250	7.4%
Holden Willis	Middle Tennessee State	+1250	7.4%
Mason Taylor	LSU	+1250	7.4%
Eli Stowers	Vanderbilt	+1500	6.3%
Jake Briningstool	Clemson	+1500	6.3%
Elijah Arroyo	Miami (FL)	+2000	4.8%
RJ Maryland	SMU	+2000	4.8%
The Field	-	+900	10.0%

This season, tight ends such as Tyler Warren out of Penn State, Oronde Gadsden II of Syracuse and Utah’s Brant Kuithe are among the tight ends that we have atop our Mackey Award odds board through seven weeks. There are plenty of other contenders through this point in the CFB season.

Check out our Michigan Wolverines football betting guide too. TE Colston Loveland (pictured at top) has 29 receptions for 261 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolverines in all three categories, even after he missed a game.

Who Are The Mackey Award Leaders in 2024?

The new leader in the Mackey Award clubhouse is a senior from Virginia who just matched the all-time record for most receptions by a tight end in FBS history.

Warren gashed USC for 224 receiving yards on 17 catches in the Nittany Lions’ 33-30 victory in Los Angeles on Saturday. That matched the Big Ten high for receptions in a game, last done by Joe Harvey of Northwestern in 1982 against Michigan. The Nittany Lions have +350 odds to win the Big Ten with DraftKings Michigan Sportsbook, behind only Oregon (+125) and Ohio State (+155).

Through Penn State’s first six games, Warren has hauled in 40 catches for 513 yards and four touchdowns, pacing an offense that ranks in the top 40 nationally in passing yards (270.0/33rd), rushing yards (201.2/28th) and points per game (34.2/T-32nd).

That productivity has Warren now atop our Mackey Award odds board with +450 odds – that would translate to an 18.2% implied probability at Michigan sports betting apps. He ranks ahead of Gadsden out of Syracuse (+700), Kuithe from Utah (+800), Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr. and Holden Willis of Middle Tennessee State (+1250 each).

For Warren, the road to a Mackey Award continues Oct. 26 when the third-ranked Nittany Lions head to Madison to play Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on NBC.

A win over the Badgers sets the stage for a colossal clash of the titans between Penn State and Ohio State in Happy Valley the following week, with the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes meeting inside Beaver Stadium on Nov. 2.

Check out our Michigan State Spartans football betting guide for more Big Ten insight geared toward readers in the Great Lakes State.

USA Today Network photo by Junfu Han

Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetMichigan.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.