Clemson Football: Two Tiger defenders named award semifinalists

Not one, but two Clemson football defenders were named to the semifinals for two different awards.

Tyler Davis was named as one of twenty finalists for the Bednarik Award which honors the nation’s outstanding defensive player, while Trenton Simpson was named as one of fifteen semifinalists for the Butkus Award which goes to the nation’s top linebacker.

Davis has started and played in six of the Tigers eight games in 2022 and in 257 snaps he’s recorded 17 total tackles, 7 tackles for loss (-34 yards), 4 sacks (-24 yards) and 10 quarterback pressures.

Simpson has started and played all 8 games this season and leads the Tigers with 50 total stops, 0.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, 2 passes broken up and 4 quarterback pressures.

The winner of the Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN on December 8 and the award will be presented in March of 2023.

The finalists for the Butkus Award will be named on November 21st and the winner on or before December 7. The 2022 Butkus Award winner will be honored on Jan. 21, 2023, at the Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage, California.

Tyler Davis and Trenton Simpson have been huge pieces of the Clemson football defense

Davis has been an anchor of Clemson’s talented and deep defensive line and while he plays a position that doesn’t always accumulate a lot of stats, his numbers only begin to show how disruptive the senior from Apopka, Florida has been.

The dynamic Simpson is part of an athletic linebacking corps that is an important part of that defense, too, with the junior from Charlotte flashing his athletic ability game after game.

Simpson was a 5-star recruit, the top linebacker in his class, number 1 in the state of North Carolina and No. 26 overall in the nation in the class of 2020.

Davis was a four-star recruit, No. 137 overall, the 12th ranked defensive tackle and 18th best player in the state of Florida.