{"id":49315,"date":"2023-08-05T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=49315"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:38:13","slug":"best-sec-tight-ends-returning-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/08\/05\/best-sec-tight-ends-returning-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Best SEC Tight Ends Returning in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no such thing as overkill when it comes to talent in college football\u2019s best conference, as this year\u2019s class of SEC tight ends demonstrates.\u00a0 NFL teams selected more SEC players than from any other conference in the 2023 draft, which is nothing new.\u00a0 The SEC has sent more players to the big leagues every year since 2007.\u00a0 This year\u2019s returning class of SEC tight ends is a deep group of up-and-coming players. An undisputed champion sits atop the list, but several contenders are moving up quickly.<\/p>\n

To qualify for the list, you must be a returning tight end in the SEC. You can be a transfer if it was from another SEC school. Transfers from outside the conference do not qualify for this list.<\/p>\n

5. Jordan Dingle, Kentucky Wildcats<\/h3>\n

Dingle<\/a> set the bar high as a freshman last season, hauling in 20 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns.\u00a0 That\u2019s a solid average of 11 yards per catch, and that could be just the start of an encore performance.\u00a0 Kentucky\u2019s offense got a shot in the arm when it landed quarterback Devin Leary<\/strong> in the transfer portal.\u00a0 Head coach Mark Stoops<\/strong>\u2019 offense looks more than capable in the hands of Leary, a four-year starter from North Carolina State.<\/p>\n

4. Donovan Green, Texas A&M Aggies<\/h3>\n

Green<\/a> was another freshman who turned up on the radar last year.\u00a0 Typically, there\u2019s not much good to say after a 5-7 season, but Green was a legitimate bright spot for the Aggies.\u00a0 He had 22 catches for 233 yards and two scores.\u00a0 With a year under his belt in the Jimbo Fisher<\/strong> program, there\u2019s no telling how much better Green will be as a sophomore.<\/p>\n

3. Trey Knox, South Carolina Gamecocks<\/h3>\n

It should be a plug-and-play operation with Knox<\/a>, who comes over from Arkansas.\u00a0 The graduate student is a veteran of the SEC ring, so he figures to have no trouble fitting right in.\u00a0 Last year with the Razorbacks, he reeled in 26 passes for 296 and five touchdowns.\u00a0 He brings 29 career starts to Columbia, where he offers a big target for returning quarterback Spencer Rattler<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2. Mason Taylor, LSU Tigers<\/h3>\n

What a year 2022 was for freshman tight ends in the SEC.\u00a0 Taylor<\/a> barely had his bags unpacked in Baton Rouge when he started tearing open defenses every Saturday.\u00a0 He caught 38 passes for 414 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n

The sky\u2019s the limit for Taylor, who is the biggest player on this list at an NFL-ready 6-6 and 255 lbs.\u00a0 He had a career-high six receptions in the SEC Championship game against Georgia.\u00a0 The sophomore will be a handful for even the best SEC defensive backfields<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

1. Brock Bowers, Georgia Bulldogs<\/h3>\n

Bowers<\/a> just keeps getting better.\u00a0 He racked up seven touchdowns and 942 yards on 63 receptions for an average of 14.9 yards per catch.\u00a0 His performance earned him the John Mackey Award as the nation\u2019s best tight end.<\/p>\n

The junior plays his best in the biggest games.\u00a0 He had six catches for 81 yards and a score in the SEC Championship win over LSU.\u00a0 In the National Championship game, he torched TCU on seven receptions for 152 yards and a score, in what is likely his final year in Athens before jumping to the NFL, Bowers is in line for another standout season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SEC<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy: Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no such thing as overkill when it comes to talent in college football\u2019s best conference, as this year\u2019s class of SEC tight ends demonstrates.\u00a0 NFL teams selected more SEC players than from any other conference in the 2023 draft, which is nothing new.\u00a0 The SEC has sent more players to the big leagues every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4486,"featured_media":49317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,35577],"tags":[65,438,21,86,285,80],"class_list":["post-49315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","category-south-carolina-gamecocks","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-jimbo-fisher","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-mark-stoops","tag-south-carolina-gamecocks"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79237,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49315\/revisions\/79237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}