Smith Named FinalistSmith Named Finalist
Football

Smith Named Finalist

STANFORD, Calif. – Junior tight end and political science major Kaden Smith was named one of three finalists for the John Mackey Award on Monday.

Iowa sophomore T.J. Hockenson and Missouri sophomore Albert Okwuegunam are the other finalists.

The three finalists were determined by the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the 2018 John Mackey Award recipient will be announced on December 5 and presented live on December 6 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.

  • Despite the Big Game postponement, Smith still ranks second in the nation among Power 5 tight ends with 47 receptions this season, and is third among that group with 63.5 receiving yards per game.
     
  • Smith has produced three games with 8+ receptions and 100+ yards this season – all the other Power 5 tight ends combined have just three such games. Smith is the first tight end to accomplish that feat three times in a season since Texas Tech's Jace Amaro in 2013.
     
  • Smith ranks No. 1 among FBS tight ends with seven deep pass (20+ yards) receptions and a 77.8 percent deep pass catch rate.
     
  • Also this season, Smith became the first Stanford tight end with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Alex Smith did so in three straight games in 2004. The Flower Mound, Texas, native is the first Cardinal tight end since Zach Ertz with three 100-yard receiving games in a season.

Smith is the fourth Stanford player to be named a finalist for the John Mackey Award, joining Austin Hooper (2015), Ertz (2012) and Alex Smith (2004).

Smith and the Cardinal have two regular season games remaining. Stanford travels to the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA at noon on Saturday, followed by the rescheduled 121st Big Game at noon on Dec. 1 in Berkeley. Both games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.