Clemson football: Trenton Simpson named to Butkus Award watchlist

Clemson football linebacker Trenton Simpson has been named to the watchlist for the Butkus Award, which is presented annually to the best linebacker in college football.

Simpson came to Clemson from Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was a 5-star prospect in the Class of 2020 per the 247 Composite. Simpson saw the field immediately in the 2020 season as a backup to Mike Jones Jr. Simpson earned a starting role in 2021 and finished 3rd on the team in tackles with 78. He has six sacks and ten tackles for a loss. He also was named to the All-ACC Academic team.

Simpson is expected to take over a leadership role for the Tiger defense this season, filling the shoes of the departed James Skalski. With two new linebackers starting alongside him, Clemson will be looking for production as well as leadership.

This is the 38th year that the Butkus Award will be given. It is named for Dick Butkus, who starred for the Illinois Fighting Illini from 1962-64 and the Chicago Bears from 1965-73. He is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. He was recognized by NFL Films as the best defensive player of all time.

The watchlist for the award includes 51 total candidates because Butkus was #51 for the Bears. It includes three semifinalists from 2021: Jack Campbell (Iowa), DeMarvion Overshown (Texas) and Noah Sewell (Oregon). Other notable names from the watchlist include Justin Flowe (Oregon), Ventrell Miller (Florida), Henry To’o To’o (Alabama) and Owen Pappoe (Auburn). All-name team member Bumper Pool (Arkansas) is also included.

Trenton Simpson of Clemson football has been added to the watchlist for an award won by some of the games most well known names

Past winners of the award include Patrick Willis (Ole Miss), Luke Kuechly (Boston College) and Von Miller (Texas A&M). Nakobe Dean (Georgia) won the award in 2021.

There are a lot of good linebackers from good defenses featured on the Butkus watchlist, but I think Simpson is positioned as well as any of them to be successful this coming season. He will be a focus of the linebacking corps at Clemson this season. He is expected to line up at the strong-side linebacker position where he has been for the past two season but is also expected to take snaps at middle and weak-side linebacker as well, keeping offensive lines on their toes as they are forced to account for him on every play. He is likely to get a fair amount of publicity as NFL scouts have also noticed him and have him on their radars as a possible early entrant to the 2023 draft. I think Simpson will have a good chance to be named as a semifinalist when they are announced on October 31, 2022.