UCLA’s Eric Kendricks win Butkus Award for top college linebacker

Posted on by

Eric Kendricks can now officially call himself the best linebacker in college football, even if Pac-12 coaches don’t think so.

After being left off the All-Pac-12 first team last week, UCLA’s all-time leading tackler received the Butkus Award on Tuesday morning — becoming the first Bruin to ever win in the trophy’s 30-year history.

Even former teammate Anthony Barr, a consensus All-American and ninth overall NFL draft pick, settled for a finalist spot behind Alabama’s C.J. Mosley.

In a statement, the Butkus Award selection committee called this year’s race “as close as any (in) the past decade,” and said it included eight write-in candidates. The runner-up was Miami’s Denzel Perryman, followed by finalists in Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith and Washington’s Hau’oli Kikaha. Arizona’s Scooby Wright — who won the Nagurski Award for top defender on Monday — finished fifth as a write-in candidate.

UCLA’s Myles Jack also received write-in votes.

“He has been overlooked much of his career despite being an extremely productive tackling machine and opportunistic playmaker against the run and pass,” the committee said of Kendricks. “His exceptional instincts, motor, toughness and football intelligence distinguished his play. His integrity, selflessness and leadership embody what the Butkus Award represents.”

The award is named after Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, who presented the trophy to Kendricks in a surprise appearance at Spaulding Field.