Three Michigan Defenders Up For Major Awards In 2023
It was announced on Thursday that three more Michigan football defensive players were named to preseason watch lists.
Butkus Award
Both Junior Colson and Michael Barrett were named to the Butkus Award watch list for the nation's best linebacker. The Wolverines have had just one Butkus Award winner in program history and that dates back to Erick Anderson who won in 1991.
Colson led the Michigan defense last year with 101 tackles. The junior linebacker is always around the football and has had some first-round hype around him heading into the 2023 season.
Here's more on Colson via the press release -- who has also been named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list.
• Freshman All-American by the Maxwell Football Club (2021)
• 2022 All-Big Ten (second team, coaches; third team, media)• 28 career games played at linebacker with 21 starts
• Notched 162 career tackles (70 solo) with 6.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks; also recovered one fumble and broke up three passes
• Team's Roger Zatkoff Award (2022) and Defensive Rookie of the Year (2021) winner
Barrett was the Wolverines' second-leading tackler in 2022. He finished behind Colson with 72 tackles. He is back for his sixth year and will be a leader for the Michigan defense.
More on Barrett below:
• 2022 All-Big Ten (third team)
• 49 career games played with 20 starts at linebacker; appeared in every game over the last four seasons
• 143 career tackles (76 solo) with 8.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks
• Made two interceptions at Rutgers last year, the first of his career, returning one for a touchdown
• Matched career best with 11 stops at Ohio State; had 10 against Purdue in the Big Ten Championship game, including a sack
• Team's Most Improved Player on Defense last fall
Jim Thorpe Award
The third Wolverine to make a preseason watch list on Thursday was sophomore cornerback Will Johnson. He was named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list for the nation's best defensive back.
Charles Woodson was the last, and only, Michigan player to win the award and he won it in 1997. Johnson has a chance to win this award after turning his freshman season into a special one. He arguably became Michigan's best CB by the end of the year. He ended 2022 with 27 tackles and three interceptions.
Here is more on Johnson:
• 2022 Freshman All-American by Pro Football Focus, 247Sports, The Athletic
• 14 games played with five starts at defensive back
• Totaled 27 tackles (25 solo) with six pass breakups, including three interceptions
• Set a career high with eight tackles against Ohio State last season
• Intercepted two passes against Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game
• 2022 Team Defensive Freshman of the Year
