Last week, Myles Jack was one of 81 defensive players named to the Nagurski Award watch list. Today, the two-way UCLA star has joined a more position-specific group.
The Butkus Award, given annually to the nation’s top linebacker, announced its preseason watch list Monday, with 51 players representing all eight conferences earning honors. All but one of the 51 come from FBS programs, with the lone exception being Harvard’s Zach Hodges.
The SEC leads all conferences with nine players listed, followed the Pac-12 with eight, the ACC and Big 12 with seven and the Big Ten with six. The only leagues that weren’t a part of this watch list were Conference USA and the MAC.
Georgia was the only team to place three players on the watch list, while seven -- Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Stanford, Texas, UCLA and Washington -- had two players apiece.
The 2013 Butkus Award winner was Alabama’s C.J. Mosley. Miami’s Denzel Perryman is the only 2013 semifinalist returning to this years preseason grouping.
Below is the complete 2014 Butkus Award watch list:
Stephone Anthony, Clemson
Kelby Brown, Duke
Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil, Maryland
Dyshawn Davis, Syracuse
Aaron Davis, Colorado State
Paul Dawson, TCU
Trey DePriest, Alabama
Steve Edmond, Texas
Kyler Fackrell, Utah State
Maurice Falls, East Carolina
Leonard Floyd, Georgia
Kris Frost, Auburn
Alani Fua, BYU
Jarrett Grace, Notre Dame
Curtis Grant, Ohio State
Bryce Hager, Baylor
Ben Heeney, Kansas
Jordan Hicks, Texas
Zach Hodges, Harvard
Mike Hull, Penn State
Myles Jack, UCLA
Jordan Jenkins, Georgia
A.J. Johnson, Tennessee
Taiwan Jones, Michigan State
Eric Kendricks, UCLA
Hau’oli Kikaha, Washington
Derrick Malone, Oregon
Tyler Matakevich, Temple
Derrick Matthews, Houston
Lorenzo Mauldin, Louisville
Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State
Braylon Mitchell, Arkansas
Mason Monheim, Illinois
Mike Orakpo, Texas State
Norkeithus Otis, North Carolina
Denzel Perryman, Miami (Fla.)
Terrance Plummer, UCF
Sunny Puetasi, Wyoming
Hayes Pullard, USC
Reggie Ragland, Alabama
Jake Ryan, Michigan
Stephon Sanders, SMU
Frank Shannon, Oklahoma
Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame
Terrance Smith, Florida State
Eric Striker, Oklahoma
A.J. Tarpley, Stanford
John Tavai, USC
Shaq Thompson, Washington
James Vaughters, Stanford
Ramik Wilson, Georgia