Comparing Jamon Dumas-Johnson to the Other Butkus Award Finalists
Georgia inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson has been named one of the five finalists for the Butkus Award. The award is given annually to the nation's top linebacker. Past winners include former Georgia linebackers Nakobe Dean (2021) and Roquan Smith (2017).
From TheButkusAward.com: “...honoring athletic achievement and service to the community while honoring the nation’s best high school, college, and professional linebackers.”
Dumas-Johnson has been instrumental in the high level of success Georgia’s defense has continued this season. Currently, Georgia ranks 5th in total defense, but has given up a FBS-low 10 touchdowns through 11 games.
While his stats may not pop off the page like some of the other finalists, Dumas-Johnson’s role as the quarterback of a top-ranked defense certainly has factored into the Butkus committee’s decision to include him as a finalist. Outside of Iowa’s Jack Campbell, none of the other finalists play on a top-20 defense.
2022 Burkus Award Finalists:
- Jamon Dumas-Johnson - Georgia - 54 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks
- Drew Sanders - Arkansas - 96 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 FF
- Jack Campbell - Iowa - 107 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 0.0 sacks, 2 INT
- Daiyan Henley - Washington State - 102 tackles, 12.0 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 INT, 2 FF
- Ivan Pace Jr. - Cincinnati - 106 tackles - 18.0 TFL, 8.0 sacks, 1 FF
Dumas Johnson spoke about his role in the defense in a press conference on Monday:
“Communication is an important part in this defense. Especially when you have the bigs we have right now, Jalen Carter, [Nazir Stackhouse], Warren [Brinson], [Zion Logue].” said Dumas-Johnson.
“It’s a lot of communication [that] goes on, because teams know that if you line straight-up it ain’t gonna be good for them. So they try to get us to communicate, motion out, motion in. Just try to see if we can communicate. I feel like we’ve been doing a pretty good job of that.”
That’s why he’s among the finalists. A lot of linebackers make a lot of tackles. Not many direct an elite unit with the efficiency of Jamon Dumas-Johnson.
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