LOGAN, Utah – Utah State junior linebacker David Woodward has been named to the 2019 Butkus Award Watch List, it was announced Monday by the Butkus Foundation.
The Butkus Award honors the nation's best linebacker and is represented by 51 candidates, honoring the retired professional jersey of Dick Butkus, who is regarded by NFL Films as the best defensive player in football history.
Woodward is one of five Mountain West players named to the Butkus Award, joining Fresno State's Mykal Walker, San Diego State's Kyahva Tezino, UNLV's Javin White and Wyoming's Logan Wilson.
Two other semifinalists from last year's Butkus Award join Woodward on this year's Watch List, including Purdue's Markus Bailey and Alabama's Dylan Moses.
Woodward, a 6-2, 230-pounder from Olympia, Wash. (Olympia HS), earned first-team All-America honors from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and third-team All-America honors from The Associated Press (AP) as a sophomore in 2018, as he started all 13 games and finished the season with 134 tackles (52-solo, 82-assist), which included 5.0 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, to go along with two forced fumbles, two interceptions, three pass breakups and four quarterback hurries. He was also named the PFF Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year as he ranked first in the MW and 11th in the nation with 134 tackles (11.2 pg).
Following his sophomore season, Woodward graded out as the top linebacker in the nation, according to PFF, at 91.6 percent as he ranked fourth among linebackers with a 92.4 grade against the run and fourth in coverage at 90.5 and only missed two tackles all season.
Woodward has also been named a preseason third-team All-American by Athlon Sports, a fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele's Magazine and first-team all-Mountain West by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele's Magazine, along with being named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List, which is awarded annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year and College Football America Yearbook (CFAY) Group of 5 Preseason Starting Lineup.
An independent Butkus Award selection committee comprised of 51 experts, including professional, college and high school scouts, and prominent sports journalists, conduct the selection process. Semifinalists will be named Nov. 4, finalists on Nov. 25 and winners will be notified on or before Dec. 10.
Utah State returns nine starters (O-2, D-7) as part of 32 letterwinners (O-13, D-17, S-2), including two All-Americans and eight players that earned various all-Mountain West honors, from last year's team that ended the season ranked 21st in the final Amway Coaches poll and 22nd in the final AP poll as the Aggies tied the school record for wins and best record with an 11-2 mark following their 52-13 win against North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
Utah State opens the 2019 season on Friday, Aug. 30, at Wake Forest, and begins the home portion of its schedule the following weekend against Stony Brook on Saturday, Sept. 7. Mountain West play begins for the Aggies at San Diego State on Saturday, Sept. 21.
For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
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