As the season draws closer and closer to the beginning, more UCLA Football news came in early on Friday. Moliki Matavao, tight end for the Bruins was named to the John Mackey Award watch list.
Matavao is a 6’6, 263 senior out of Liberty High School. He is from Henderson Nevada, but started his college football career at Oregon. He started six games but played in all 13 last season. He averaged a team-best 20.2 yards per game for the Bruins. At Oregon, he started 8 games and played in 26 total before transferring and enrolling at UCLA in January of 2023.
The John Mackey is awarded at the end of the season for the most outstanding tight end in College Football. The winner of the award last season was Brock Bowers of Georgia. Bowers won it the last two seasons. Other names that have won the award are Kyle Pitts, TJ Hockenson, Mark Andrews, and Jake Butt.
𝗕𝟭𝗚 year incoming for @MatavaoMoliki 🙌🎯
Our guy has been tabbed to the John Mackey Award Watch List, given annually to the nation's top tight end.#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/qWdqVhLZg3
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) August 9, 2024