Georgia linebackers Azeez Ojulari and Monty Rice have recently been named to the 2020 Butkus Award watch list.
This award, named after legendary University of Illinois and Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus, is given annually to college football’s most outstanding linebacker.
Since the award’s origination in 1985, only one Bulldog has won it, that being Roquan Smith in 2017. Roquan coincidentally now starts at linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
The redshirt sophomore Ojulari saw time in eleven games in 2019, putting up 33 total tackles (14 solo), 5.5 sacks and one forced fumble. He is a rising star in the SEC and a notable defender to look out for this season.
Rising senior Monty Rice has been a staple in the Dawgs’ recent ferocious defense. It is no surprise that Rice is on this watch list. Rice saw time in 8 games his freshman year, 9 his sophomore year and played all 14 his junior year. He has racked up 170 total tackles (85 solo), 4 pass deflections, one sack and one forced fumble in his career at UGA.
These two will both play big roles in Georgia’s defense this year, a defense that ranked No. 1 in team defense in 2019.
