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Anyone who knows anything about Arkansas' roster knows Hunter Henry is easily the most established, reliable weapon in Arkansas' passing offense, so it's no surprise at all that the talented sophomore earned a spot on the Mackey Award watch list.
In fact, if/when Arkansas' program gets turned around, it's likely because the team has found ways to get Henry more involved and get more passes thrown his way. At that point, it wouldn't be a shock to see him on semifinal and final lists for this award later in the year and compete for the right to be known as the best tight end in the nation.
Henry caught 28 passes for 409 yards (both good for 2nd on the team) and four touchdowns (tied for 1st) as a true freshman last season. He caught five passes in both the season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette and the season closer against LSU. He also had four catches for 109 yards against Texas A&M including a 52-yard completion, which was Arkansas' longest passing play of the year.
Henry would be the second Razorback to win the Mackey Award, following D.J. Williams in 2010.
Full disclaimer, as usual: the watch lists are basically an acknowledgment of production in previous seasons. A player does not have to be included on the watch list to win the award, but it is a way of saying, "these are some players that should be pretty good." So it's relevance is certainly debatable but it is nice to know someone's thinking about you.
