Jake Ryan Butkus Award semi-finalist
Congrats to Jake! He has represented Michigan well on and off the field despite not being named a team captain.
from MLlive... ANN ARBOR -- Michigan fifth-year senior Jake Ryan is playing a new position this season. And, according to those responsible for selecting the top linebacker in America every year, Ryan's playing it pretty well. The 6-foot-3, 236-pound Ryan was the only Big Ten player to land on the 2014 Dick Butkus Award semifinalist list. The Butkus Award -- which unveiled its 15 semifinalists Monday -- is presented annually to the nation's top linebacker. Ryan has 68 tackles, 10 for a loss, in eight games this season. He also has a pair of sacks. His 10 tackles for a loss are tied for fourth in the Big Ten, and he's the league's 10th-leading tackler. The rest of the Butkus Award semifinalists are: Clemson's Stephone Anthony, UCLA's Myles Jack, Georgia's Jordan Jenkins, Tennessee's A.J. Johnson, UCLA's Eric Kendricks, Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha, Mississippi State's Benardrick McKinney, Miami (Fla.)'s Denzel Perryman, USC's Hayes Pullard, Alabama's Reggie Ragland, Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith, Oklahoma's Eric Striker, Washington's Shaq Thompson and Georgia's Ramik Wilson. The finalists for the Butkus Award will be named Nov. 24. The winners will be announced on Dec. 9.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^
Good for him. Glad to see him getting recognized despite being in a tough position change.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
I hope the move to MLB doesn't hurt his chances in the league
October 27th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
He was a captain last year, was he not?
Way to undercut a team leader.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
because I think many Michigan fans might argue he's not even Michigan's best linebacker this year
October 27th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
Good to see that Jake and Frank Clark are both still playing for pride at least
October 27th, 2014 at 11:57 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
To be considered as a finalist on this team, with this coaching staff, with the line he has in front of him, and the position change just made him the winner in my book ; )
Also don't underestimate how badly some seniors wanted to be captain of a Michgan team and how they led off the field and played through it. My kid is a underclass leader working like a madman to be a very deserving captain of his HS team. If his coach pulled a stunt like Hoke did with no real captains, I would be proud if he handled it as well as Jake.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
I scanned the list twice and didn't see any other Big 10 linebackers on the list. Now watch the writers leave him off their All-Big 10 Team because of our record and their stupidity.
EDIT: would have helped if I read the OP more carefully...
October 27th, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
jajajajajajajajajajaja...
October 27th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^
This has been a season where we've probably been scraping to hear good things, and indeed, we are now hearing such a thing. I know that the MLB move gets discussed rather a lot, but it is good to see Jake making the most of it and doing his best even with the change. Great to see Jake getting some recognition here.
October 27th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^
Glad he's getting recognition. A note: how is Mike Hull from Penn State not on this list? Hull has been fantastic this year, too.