Big Ten honors: Michigan's Aidan Hutchinson named defensive player and lineman of the year, three defenders on first team, more

The All-Big Ten defensive and special teams selections, as well as individual defensive award winners, were unveiled by the conference Tuesday afternoon, and Michigan cleaned up. Junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson won the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year and Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year awards, and he was one of three Wolverine defenders to take home first-team All-Big Ten honors. Junior kicker Jake Moody was recognized as the league’s Kicker of the Year.

Hutchinson is third among all Michigan defenders and first among defensive linemen with 54 tackles this season (32 solo). He has generated a team-leading 14.5 tackles for loss and a program-record 13 sacks (No. 3, NCAA), along with 10 quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, a pair of forced fumbles and one fumble recovered. Hutchinson is graded as the No. 1 defensive player in the country by Pro Football Focus College (93.8).

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“I have so much gratitude and so much appreciation,” Hutchinson said on BTN Live, accepting the award. “It’s nice that all that hard work finally paid off, and none of this would be possible without my teammates doing their thing, without [defensive coordinator] Coach [Mike] Mac[donald] coming in and really changing the scheme here at Michigan. It’s really a culmination of a lot of people that don’t get the recognition but deserve it. I’m just truly blessed and truly grateful.”

Hutchinson’s father, former Michigan All-American Chris Hutchinson, was the recipient of the defensive lineman of the year award in 1992.

“It’s pretty darn cool. Hopefully we’ll be sharing a couple more awards in the future that he got,” Aidan Hutchinson said. “It’s so cool. My senior year, he got it his fifth-year senior year and our paths are kind of crossing at this point. I’m doing a lot of the things that he’s done. I broke his sack record in that last game against Ohio State, so there’s a lot of that going on with my dad right now. It’s all fun, it’s all really cool.”

Moody was a first-team pick from the coaches and a third-team selection by the media. He has 22 made field goals on 24 attempts this season, three shy of the single-season record set by Remy Hamilton in 1994. Moody has converted on all 18 of his kicks this season inside 40 yards, and has scored 116 points total (No. 10 in the NCAA). Moody is four points shy of tying the second-highest single-season scoring total in Michigan history. He has also been a weapon on kickoffs with 58 touchbacks on 88 attempts, leading to the country’s No. 1 kickoff return defense unit (12.08 yards, average).

Moody is the first Michigan kicker to be named the Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year. He also is one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, given to college football’s top kicker.

Hutchinson (coaches and media), redshirt freshman outside linebacker David Ojabo (coaches and media) and sophomore defensive back Daxton Hill (coaches) were all named to the first team.

Ojabo has contributed 33 tackles (23 solo), 11 sacks among them, in his first year as a starting player (seven starts, all in 2021). He has generated 86 yards for loss with those sacks, the seventh-highest single-season total in program history.

Hill led the secondary’s honorees with first-team accolades from the coaches and second-team honors from the media. His 60 tackles (37 solo) are second on the team and first among secondary players. Playing heavy coverage snaps in the slot, Hill has broken up 10 passes, including two interceptions. He also has posted 3.5 tackles for loss including a split-sack, and has three quarterback hurries. Hill is the only Wolverine to record both a fumble recovery and an interception this season.

Rounding out the Michigan Wolverines’ Big Ten honorees was a trio of third-team defenders picked by the media — redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross, redshirt sophomore cornerback Vincent Gray and fifth-year senior safety Brad Hawkins. Ross was an honorable mention from the coaches, along with sophomore defensive tackle Christopher Hinton, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Mazi Smith and redshirt freshman cornerback DJ Turner, who all were honorable mentions by both groups of voters.

Redshirt junior punter Brad Robbins earned an honorable mention from both groups, while second-year freshman wideout A.J. Henning earned third-team honors as a return man from the coaches and media.

Michigan Football 2021 Big Ten Awards

Here is a list of the awards Michigan Wolverines won Tuesday. The offensive and freshman of the year honors were unveiled Wednesday afternoon.

COACHES

Defense
First Team: Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Daxton Hill
Honorable Mention: Christopher Hinton, Josh Ross, Mazi Smith, DJ Turner

Special Teams
First Team: Jake Moody
Third Team: A.J. Henning
Honorable Mention: Brad Robbins

MEDIA

Defense
First Team: Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo
Second Team: Daxton Hill
Third Team: Josh Ross, Vincent Gray, Brad Hawkins
Honorable Mention: Christopher Hinton, Mazi Smith, DJ Turner

Special Teams
Third Team: Jake Moody, A.J. Henning
Honorable Mention: Brad Robbins