The 2011 Butkus Award watch list is out, and SAD TIMES! The Georgia Bulldogs fail to appear on this one, as all their good linebackers are now running backs. That's not quite true, but this is the first award watch list that hasn't included at least one Dawg. No Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, either.
The Alabama Crimson Tide place a marvelous three players on the list -- Dont'a Hightower, Nico Johnson and Courtney Upshaw. A few other schools delivered two. The Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes and North Carolina Tar Heels were the other major southeastern programs to turn up a pair.
However! The list also includes a high school watch list, which features seven Georgia players. That's tied with Texas for the most of any state. Assuming a Peach State school can add one of those players -- perhaps Kenderius Whitehead, who's attending Dawg Night? -- maybe we won't have this problem in the future. This is a very July problem.
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