As expected, Buckeye TE Jake Stoneburner has been named to the John Mackey Award watch list. The award, named after the Pro Football Hall of Fame member who spent his Collegiate career at Syracuse, is presented by the Nassau County Sports Commission and honors the Nation’s outstanding Tight End.
As many are aware, Stoneburner is in the doghouse at the moment, but there is no denying the impact he could have in the Urban Meyer offense. His combination of size and speed will be a force to be reckoned with and he should make an outstanding receiving option for QB Braxton Miller.
There is no reason to believe that he will be grossly under-utilized, as he was last year. Well, unless someone steps in and takes his spot while he is serving time in the Urban Meyer doghouse. As I don’t think this will be an issue, Stoney may very well have the best shot to win a major award out of all the Buckeyes being placed on preseason watch lists.
The next step…getting off of Urban’s bad side…is arguably his biggest hurdle. Given his past history of keeping his nose clean, he should be just fine.
