With so many polls and rankings released as the regular season hits its final month, one that can often get lost in the shuffle is the finalists for the 2015 Dick Butkus Award, announced earlier today, with five of the ten linebackers coming from the SEC.

2015 BUTKUS AWARD SEMIFINALISTS:

  • Kendell Beckwith, LSU (40 tackles, 5.0 for loss, 1 FF)
  • Su’a Cravens, USC (50 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 3.0 sacks, 1 FF, 2 INT)
  • Kyler Fackrell, Utah State (53 tackles, 11.0 for loss, 3.0 sacks, 2 FF, 3 FR)
  • Leonard Floyd, Georgia (44 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 FR)
  • Deion Jones, LSU (39 tackles, 5.0 for loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 INT)
  • Blake Martinez, Stanford (89 tackles, 4.5 for loss, 1 INT)
  • Raekwon McMillan, Ohio State (74 tackles, 2.0 for loss, 1.0 sacks)
  • Antonio Morrison, Florida (57 tackles, 7.0 for loss, 1.5 sacks)
  • Reggie Ragland, Alabama (71 tackles, 5.0 for loss, 2.0 sacks, 2 FF)
  • Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame (67 tackles, 6.0 for loss, 1.0 sacks, 1 FF, 2 FR)

The Butkus Award not only typically recognizes the best linebacker in college football, but often is a pretty good indication of who will make the best pro with players like Patrick Willis (2006), Von Miller (2010), Luke Kuechly (2011), and C.J Mosley (2013) taken in recent years.

Jaylon Smith or Raekwon McMillian could join Manti Te’o as the second linebacker to win the Butkus award both in high school and college.