New Florida State tight end Jaheim Bell has been named to a preseason watch list before his FSU career even officially begins. The South Carolina transfer was named to the Mackey Award preseason watch list Friday.

The award is given annually to the best tight end in college football. Nick O'Leary, who is starting his first year on the Seminoles' support staff as a student assistant coach, is the program's only Mackey Award winner, doing so in 2013.

Bell came to Florida State in January as the No. 1 tight end and No. 8 overall player in the 247Sports transfer ratings. In 30 games at South Carolina, he made 56 catches for 757 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 301 yards and three touchdowns rushing. Bell’s career-high 159 yards in the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl against North Carolina is the Gamecocks’ single-game record for receiving yards by a tight end. In that game, he scored a career-best two touchdowns, courtesy of 69- and 66-yard catches on the first two possessions of a 38-21 victory.

In 2022, Bell caught 25 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns and added 261 yards and three touchdowns on 73 rushing attempts. The Lake City, Florida, native tied his career high with two receiving touchdowns and rushed for a career-best 82 yards in a 63-38 victory over No. 5 Tennessee. His five receiving touchdowns led the team in 2021, and his 136 yards on a career-high six receptions against Vanderbilt was at the time the most in a game for a tight end in program history before he eclipsed that mark against UNC.

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