2022 Butkus Linebacker of the Year Award Watch List

The Dick Butkus Award released its watch list for Linebacker of the Year in college football. One name was noticeably absent from the list, however. He is at the top of mine. See if you can figure out which superstar of college football wasn’t on the watchlist. (Watchlist given via http://ncfaa.org/22watchlists.pdf)

Darren Anders, Bowling Green
Jeremy Banks, Tennessee
Micah Baskerville, LSU
Seth Benson, Iowa
JD Bertrand, Notre Dame
Tatum Bethune, Florida State
Troy Brown, Ole Miss
Ben Bywater, BYU
Jack Campbell, Iowa
Levani Damuni, Stanford
KD Davis, North Texas
Mohamoud Diabate, Utah
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia
Justin Flowe, Oregon
Sherrod Greene, South Carolina
Kyle Harmon, San Jose State
Calvin Hart Jr., Illinois
Daiyan Henley, Washington State
Nick Jackson, Virginia
Jestin Jacobs, Iowa
Carl Jones Jr., UCLA
Mikel Jones, Syracuse
Tyrice Knight, UTEP
Carlton Martial, Troy
Ventrell Miller, Florida
Jackson Mitchell, UConn
Jaylen Moody, Alabama
Isaiah Moore, N.C. State
Darius Muasau, UCLA
Donavan Mutin, Houston
Anfernee Orji, Vanderbilt
DeMarvion Overshown, Texas
Ivan Pace, Cincinnati
Deshawn Pace, Cincinnati
Owen Pappoe, Auburn
James Patterson, Buffalo
Bumper Pool, Arkansas
Luke Reimer, Nebraska
Merlin Robertson, Arizona State
Noah Sewell, Oregon
Trenton Simpson, Clemson
Isaac Slade-Matautia, SMU
Mariano Sori-Marin, Minnesota
DeAndre Square, Kentucky
Drake Thomas, N.C. State
Henry To’o To’o, Alabama
David Ugwoegbu, Oklahoma
Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington

TEN MOST RECENT WINNERS

2012 – Manti Te’o, Notre Dame

2013 – C.J. Mosley, Alabama

2014 – Eric Kendricks, UCLA

2015 – Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame

2016 – Reuben Foster, Alabama

2017 – Roquan Smith, Georgia

2018 – Devin White, LSU

2019 – Isaiah Simmons, Clemson

2020 – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame

2021 – Nakobe Dean, Georgia

MY PAST TEN WINNERS

The past ten winners I would have chosen for this award after the bowl games (a flaw of college football) and thus taken the entire season into account. I also account for how their overall performance effected their team in a season.

2012 – Ryan Shazier, Ohio State

2013 – C.J. Mosley, Alabama

2014 – Darron Lee, Ohio State

2015 – Reggie Ragland

2016 – Raekwon McMillan, Ohio State

2017 – Josey Jewell, Iowa

2018 – Josh Allen, Kentucky

2019 – Micah Parsons, Penn State

2020 – Dylan Moses, Alabama

2021 – Nakobe Dean, Georgia

MY TOP TEN FOR 2022

1. Will Anderson, Alabama
2. Noah Sewell, Oregon
3. Henry To’o To’o, Alabama
4. Ben Bywater, BYU
5. Luke Reimer, Nebraska
6. Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia
7. Mohamoud Diabate, Utah
8. Jeremy Banks, Tennessee
9. Ivan Pace, Cincinnati
10. Deshawn Pace, Cincinnati