Georgia Bulldogs, both current and future, earn semifinalist status for Butkus Award
Georgia has staked its claim as LBU. ESPN said so this past summer. Nakobe Dean took home the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in all of College Football last year. He was the second Georgia player to do so, both under Kirby Smart. Dean followed that up by being one of three Bulldogs backers taken in the 2022 NFL Draft this past spring. Since Smart stepped foot on campus as the head coach, eight Georgia linebackers have been selected. And on Tuesday, Georgia added to its claim of being LBU as the Butkus Foundation announced its semifinalists for both the collegiate and high school awards with the Bulldogs being represented in both categories.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia’s leading tackle on the season so far, was one of 15 players to be named a semifinalist. He has started all eight games at inside linebacker for the Bulldogs this season and has 40 stops to his name, including 5.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 quarterback sacks. Dumas-Johnson also has 13 quarterback hurries, second-most on the team.
“I mean, he started showing up making plays we first got here. I don’t know if you consider him highly touted. I don’t really know, I just know we really liked him. We liked his demeanor, liked where he’s from, liked his program, toughness that he played in and we liked the way he was on Zooms and talking to him,” Smart said earlier this season, recalling Dumas-Johnson recruitment some. “He got here and he’s a little heavy because he had not played and he started making plays. We’re like, ‘Man, this guy’s good player.’ Of course we had good players in front of him. He’s blossomed really well this year. Probably the greatest strides he’s made is his leadership and his command of our defense at a young age. He’s not afraid to hold people accountable, which is hard for a sophomore.”
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Meanwhile, for the high school award, Georgia has three linebacker commits: Raylen Wilson, Troy Bowles and CJ Allen. All three earned semifinalist status. Wilson, out of Lincoln H.S. (Tallahassee, Fla.) is the highest rated of the group coming in as the No. 2 linebacker in the country per the On3 Consensus, an equally weighted industry-generated ranking. He’s No. 1 according to On3’s in-house On300 rankings. Meanwhile, Bowles, hailing from Jesuit H.S. (Tampa, Fla.) comes in as the No. 5 linebacker in the country per the Consensus while Allen of Lamar County (Barnesville, Ga.) is the No. 10 player at the position.
Finalists for the award will be announced on November 21st while the winner of each the collegiate and high school award will be named on or before December 7th. The 2022 Butkus Award winners will be honored at a televised even on January 21, 2023 at the Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The event will again feature namesake Dick Butkus and numerous noted NFL Alumni.
