MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State junior tight end Ben Sinnott was one of 48 tight ends in the nation to be named to the preseason watch list for the 2023 John Mackey Award, the award’s organization announced Friday.
Sinnott is just the fourth Wildcat to ever be up for the award that goes to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, joining Brian Casey (2004), Jeron Mastrud (2009 midseason candidate) and Dayton Valentine (2017). He is also one of six Big 12 tight ends on the initial 2023 watch list.
A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Sinnott burst onto the scene last season as he started all 14 games and hauled in 31 passes for 447 yards and four touchdowns en route to All-Big 12 First Team accolades from the league’s coaches. Sinnott, who had at least one catch in 13 games, led all Big 12 tight ends and ranked fourth nationally among the position group with a 14.4-yard receiving average, while he ranked sixth in school history in receiving yards by a tight end and tied for eighth in receptions. He totaled the most catches and receiving yards by a K-State tight end since Mastrud in 2008 (38 catches for 435 yards).
Sinnott’s best game of the 2022 season came at Baylor when he set career highs in catches (7), yards (89) and touchdowns (2). It was the first time a K-State tight had multiple touchdown receptions in a game since Jarrett Grosdidier against Indiana State in 1996, while his seven catches were the most by a Wildcat tight end since Rashaad Norwood also had seven at Baylor in 2006. Sinnott also topped the 80-yard mark and had another touchdown the next week at West Virginia, while his fourth touchdown of the season was the Wildcats’ first score in the Big 12 Championship victory over No. 3 TCU, a six-yard reception on a 4th-down play.
K-State is in the midst of preseason practices leading up to the 2023 campaign, which opens on September 2 with a 6 p.m., contest against SEMO inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Tickets to the seven-game home slate can be purchased online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets or by phone at 1-800-221-CATS.
