Going into the 2025 season, the Virginia Tech football team has seen a lot of players land on some preseason award watch lists. On Friday, that trend continued when tight end Benji Gosnell landed on the Mackey Award Watch List.
The award honors the top tight end in college football, and he should be a big focal point this fall of Philip Montgomery's offense with quarterback Kyron Drones. The redshirt junior from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, headlines the Hokies' tight end room with Harrison Saint Germain, as both recorded touchdown receptions in Virginia Tech's Military Bowl win over Tulane in December of 2023.
Last season, Gosnell had 32 receptions for 341 yards, while averaging 10.7 yards a catch and a pair of touchdowns. He started all 13 games for Virginia Tech. His two touchdown receptions were a 25-yard catch from Drones against Miami and a 20-yard reception against Georgia Tech.
Gosnell is one of eight ACC tight ends to land on the list, along with Jeremiah Franklin of Boston College, Randy Pittman, Jr. of Florida State, Landen Thomas of Florida State, Elija Lofton of Miami, Justin Joly of North Carolina State, Matthew Hibner of SMU, and Sam Roush of Stanford. The Hokies will see four of these players on their schedule this year: Pittman, Thomas, Joly, and Lofton. Also making the list was former Hokies tight end Daequan Wright, who is now at Ole Miss.
The John Mackey Award was established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission and honors the legacy of NFL Hall of Fame Tight End, John Mackey.
It'll be interesting to see how Gosnell is used this season and how the tight end position as a whole is used by Montgomery, as it has been a position that felt like it wasn't used enough by former offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen.