Ranking WNC tight ends in 2024 North Carolina high school football season

Western North Carolina high school football is nearly back, with scrimmages and preseason games starting in roughly one month.

The Citizen Times and Times-News are continuing to highlight the top NCHSAA players by position , continuing with tight ends in WNC to watch in 2024. Two top area tight ends are gaining college offers in Brevard's Dillon Galloway and Mountain Heritage's Cason Jones.

Here are the rankings of WNC's best tight ends from 7 to 1:

Best North Carolina high school football TEs in WNC for 2024

7. Isaiah Turner

Mitchell

Vitals: 6-foot-3, 192 pounds, Jr.

Although Mitchell passed little last season, throwing for less than 1,000 yards as a team, Turner had 89 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He leads all returning Mountaineers in receiving yards.

6. Graham Cannon

Enka

Vitals: 6-3, 225, Sr.

Cannon proved a viable target in limited playing time last season, with 83 receiving yards over five games.

5. Bridger Jones

Tuscola

Vitals: 6-0, 175, Sr.

Jones had 172 yards receiving on 19 catches as a junior. He'll be expected to play a bigger role for a Mountaineers team replacing its top two receivers from last year.

4. Luke Smith

Cherokee

Vitals: 6-2, 215, Sr.

Smith caught 22 passes for 340 yards, leading all returning tight ends in receiving yards. He had five touchdowns and averaged 37.8 yards per game for the Braves. He is one of three returning Braves receivers who had more than 200 yards in 2023.

3. Tyler Nash

West Henderson

Vitals: 6-5, 250, Sr.

Nash caught 14 passes a year ago, including three for touchdowns, while recording 211 yards. Nash is likely to play a bigger role in the receiving game after the Falcons graduated two top receivers.

2. Cason Jones

Mountain Heritage

Vitals: 6-3, 200, Jr.

Offers: Lenoir-Rhyne

Jones was a force for a powerful Cougars offense last season, catching 18 passes for 291 yards and seven touchdowns, all team highs. He also rushed for 617 yards and four touchdowns on 63 carries.

1. Dillon Galloway

Brevard

V itals: 6-4, 225, Sr.

Offers: Appalachian State, Chattanooga, Bryant, Gardner-Webb, Penn, Lafayette (Penn.), Richmond, Sacred Heart, UNC-Pembroke

Recruiting is picking up for the big-bodied Blue Devil. Galloway earned his first Division I FBS offer from App State on June 20. Last season, he had 19 receptions for 167 yards and four touchdowns.

Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Ranking WNC tight ends in 2024 North Carolina high school football season