NEW YORK – San Diego State junior Daniel Bellinger has been named to the preseason watch list for the Mackey Award, which goes out to the most outstanding collegiate tight end. The Las Vegas native is one of 36 tight ends on the initial list and one of just five from a non-Power 5 school.
Last season, Bellinger started 11 of the team's 13 games at tight end, working alongside 2019 second-team all-Mountain West selection Parker Houston. Bellinger had 15 catches for 201 yards (13.4 avg.) with three touchdowns. Among tight ends, his three touchdown receptions ranked in a tie for fourth in the MW and a tie for 47th in the nation.
For his career, Bellinger has 16 catches for 211 yards (13.2 avg.) and three touchdowns, while appearing in each of the last 22 games since arriving to SDSU as a true freshman in 2018.
An Aztec has now been on the preseason list for the award each of the last four seasons - Bellinger in 2020, Parker Houston in 2019, Kahale Warring in 2018 and David Wells in 2017.
The award is named after NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey, who 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.
SDSU is coming off a 10-3 season, the program's fourth double-digit win campaign over the last five years.