A day after running away with MVP honors in the Southeastern Conference championship game, Georgia inside linebacker Roquan Smith was named Sunday as the winner of the Butkus Award, which is given annually to college football’s top linebacker.
That vote wasn’t close, either.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound junior from Montezuma, Ga., received 60 percent of the first-place votes and 40 percent of the overall vote in a five-man field of finalists that included Michigan’s Devin Bush, Virginia Tech’s Tremaine Edmunds, Wisconsin’s T.J. Edwards and Clemson’s Dorian O’Daniel.
“Roquan Smith proved to be the overwhelming favorite in this year’s collegiate linebacking class,” the award’s selection committee said in a release. “He’s always around the ball and is very tough, fast and instinctive with exceptional football reflexes. He makes his presence felt all over the field and hits with the type of explosion that has come to define the Butkus Award.
“As terrific of a football player as he is, Roquan is highly regarded by teammates, coaches and support staff for his intelligence, intensity and leadership traits.”