Heel Tough Blog: Jelani Thurman Lands on Preseason Mackey Award List

@UNCFootball- Twitter

For a second straight day, a Tar Heel has landed on a preseason award watch list for this season.

On Wednesday, the John Mackey Award committee announced their watch list for the 2026 season and the Tar Heels junior tight end Jelani Thurman was amongst those mentioned.

Thurman, who transferred from Ohio State earlier this offseason, comes to Chapel Hill following a solid career as a backup for the Buckeyes in the first three years at the college level. In the 34 games that he has played so far in his career, he has caught 13 of his 19 targets for 144 yards and two touchdowns with his most productive season coming this past season. In the limited snaps that he played in his time in Columbus, he looked better in blocking situations where he has never posted lower than a 69.4 run block grade or a 64.0 pass block grade in his three years according to Pro Football Focus.

This season, the Tar Heels are hoping that he can shine in both areas and there is reason to believe he will. Back in the spring, there was a lot of positivity about the way that he caught the football and the hope is that it will extend into the fall to go along with his blocking skills. If that happens, there is a slim chance that he could actually be in the conversation for this award at the end of the season. More realistic might be him landing postseason All-ACC honors at the position.