Kentucky commit Grant Godfrey named to Butkus Award HS Watch List

One of Kentucky football’s top commits is primed for a monster senior season.

Earlier this week, four-star linebacker Grant Godfrey was tabbed to the Butkus Award High School Preseason Watch List. The honor, which is named after NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus and is now in its 15th year, recognizes the nation’s top high school linebacker. Godfrey is one of 51 linebackers to make the watch list, which will be trimmed down to a group of semifinalists on Oct. 31.

Considered the No. 310 overall prospect and the third-highest-rated Wildcat in the ’23 class, per the On3 Consensus, Godfrey committed to Kentucky at the beginning of August. He is one of eight players from the state of Georgia (North Gwinnett High School) to make the initial cut.

After the group of semifinalists is announced on Oct. 31, the finalists will then be unveiled on Nov. 21. A winner will be declared on or before Dec. 7 and then properly honored during a television event in California on Jan. 21, 2023.

“High school football is the very heart of the sport and I enjoy recognizing and watching these players develop as athletes and young men,” Butkus said in the award’s press release. “When an outstanding player receives the Butkus Award he will know two things: First, he is recognized as the best of the best linebackers in America; Second, and in the long run most important, he will understand this recognition brings a responsibility of giving back.”

Previous winners of this award include Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o (who later won the college version of the Butkus Award, as well) and Georgia’s Nakobe Dean, who was a third-round NFL Draft pick earlier this year. The 2021 winner, Shawn Murphy, is currently a freshman at Alabama.