This exuberant, charismatic Miami TE loves to dominate. Now he’s a Mackey semifinalist
University of Miami tight end Brevin Jordan is only a sophomore, but he’s one elite youngster.
Jordan was selected Monday as one of eight semifinalists for the 2019 John Mackey Award that goes to the nation’s top tight end at the end of the season.
He is the only Mackey Award semifinalist from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“When I committed to Miami out of high school, I knew stuff like this would be a part of it because it’s the one and only #TEU,’’ the gregarious, upbeat Jordan posted on Twitter after the announcement was made.
Jordan, who is recovering from a lower left leg injury sustained at Florida State, leads the Hurricanes with 495 receiving yards on 35 catches in nine games, a 14.1-yard-per-catch average. He has scored two touchdowns and is also considered one of UM’s best blockers.
“Congrats to Brevin,’’ Miami coach Manny Diaz said Monday at his weekly news conference ahead of the FIU game at 7 p.m. Saturday. “He was a semifinalist for the Mackey Award for the top tight end, which is certainly well deserved. I don’t know who the other guys are, but they’ve got their work cut out for them.”
Diaz indicated that Jordan did more physical work Sunday “than he’s done [the] last week. I think the bye week came at a great time for him, so I’m still optimistic that he’ll be good to go. But we’re going to continue to progress him as the week goes on.’’
Jordan’s 495 yards has already surpassed his freshman total of 287.
As the top high school tight end in America when he came to the University of Miami as a 17-year-old out of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High, Jordan has impressed offensive coordinator Dan Enos since Enos joined the staff this season.
“I mean, he’s one of those rare guys,’’ Enos said of Jordan, who turned 19 in July. “It’s hard for us to take him off the field.’’
Against Virginia Tech in early October, Jordan had a career-high 136 yards on seven catches.
Jordan’s career numbers after 21 games: 782 receiving yards on 67 catches with six touchdowns.
The other Mackey Award semifinalists include Harrison Bryant, a senior out of FAU. In 10 games, Bryant has 48 catches for 708 yards and two touchdowns for a 70.8-yards-a-game average.
Also among the semifinalists are Hunter Bryant (Washington), Brycen Hopkins (Purdue), Charlie Kolar (Iowa State), Albert Okwuegbunam (Missouri), Colby Parkinson (Stanford) and Giovanni Ricci (Western Michigan).
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 3:36 PM.
