Lewis and Butt not finalists for major national awards

Submitted by Real Tackles Wear 77 on

Jourdan Lewis not a Jim Thorpe finalist and Jake Butt not a Mackey finalist.

Seems like a travesty in both cases, especially Jourdan's, though passes defended is not as sexy a stat as interceptions, so Iowa's Desmond King got the nod instead.

BlueKoj

November 24th, 2015 at 5:17 PM ^

Selfishly, I'm good with both of these if it keeps the NFL at bay for one more year. Objectively, this seems like a mistake on the award committees' part.

getsome

November 24th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^

the dude at arkansas?  i recall really liking his tape / potential when hoke recruited him - the kid henry at arkansas and the TE at stanford (though his name escapes me) were 2 TEs i hoped hoke could reel in (at least out of the pool of reasonably interested prospects)

WeimyWoodson

November 24th, 2015 at 7:38 PM ^

and Harbaugh regarding when he was a player and potentially winning the Heisman.  Bo stood up in front of the team with him saying reporters were projecting Harbaugh as a possible winner, and asked what Harbaugh thought of that.  Bo quickly then cut him off before he had a chacne to say anything and said something along the lines of "that's right Jim, you don't care about that because you care more about the team".  Harbaugh dumfounded just said "yeah coach". 

So I'm sure Harbaugh now would do the same thing for these guys.

Wolverine Devotee

November 24th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^

I'm losing my mind right now. If I had the puffy coat, I'd be throwing it. 

Absolute horseshit. Now watch Jourdan Lewis (rightfully) win B1G defensive back of the year.

Butt being a finalist for the Mackey is another joke. He has more receptions and yards than the finalists, I believe. 

Blake O'Neill not even being a semifinalist for the Ray Guy is hilariously stupid.

Guess what? All three of those guys will be first team All-B1G, Lewis is gonna be a first team All-American and Lewis will be a first round draft pick in 2017.

Wolverine Devotee

November 24th, 2015 at 5:53 PM ^

Just because the Thorpe voters are idiots doesn't mean those of the multiple All-America selectors are.  

Being a Thorpe finalist isn't an auto-bid. Lewis had 9 PBUs against MSU and their first round receiver. That number from that one game is better than 2 of the 3 finalist's seasons.

Lewis has 19 PBUs. Desmond King has the most of any finalist at 10. That would be a SECOND place tie on Michigan with Peppers who has 10.

Hargreaves and Cash both have a whopping 2 PBUs.

Don't talk to me about INTs. Many of King's were floating gifts against Iowa's terrible schedule. 

As far as pick sixes go, Lewis has one where he 100% made the play against NU. 

Michigan4Life

November 24th, 2015 at 9:25 PM ^

It's not about stats when it comes to CB. There is a reason why Hargreaves is considered to be the best CB prospect in the NFL draft. It's his ability to cover WRs. QBs don't throw the ball in his way. Hard to compile stats when they rarely throw in his way.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

TrueBlue2003

November 24th, 2015 at 7:05 PM ^

against MSU, not 9.  But yes, he's been excellent. I don't think you can just not talk about INTs though.  It's basically a PBU but a lot better, since you're breaking the pass up AND changing possession rather than just causing an incompletion.

Wolverine Devotee

November 24th, 2015 at 6:05 PM ^

Oh, you mean the game where he kicked an 80 yard punt which was the longest punt in college football this season?

Him dropping a bad snap when the snapper was illegally run over has nothing to do with his ability. 

Lewis will win B1G defensive back of the year. It may be a split award, as they can do that and I'd disagree with it but understand it since the media likes shiny objects. 

He will get that award though, be it split or outright.

mwolverine1

November 24th, 2015 at 9:37 PM ^

The dropped snap is a glaring negative. At punter, no stats are gonna overcome that. But regardless, Michigan is 85th in net punting. O'Neill also had a punt blocked and one returned for a TD. And when you look at the guys they did pick you see they're all in the top 6 in punting average. O'Neill is 65th.

King has the sexy ints so he will win. Plus Iowa is 11-0.

Leaders And Best

November 24th, 2015 at 6:37 PM ^

But Desmond King is going to win the B1G Defensive Back of the Year unless Jourdan Lewis has a Woodson-like OSU statement game. King is having a monster season with 8 INTs, and Iowa may go 12-0 and win their division. And all 8 of those INTs came against Power 5 competition so it is not like he padded those stats against weak competition. In fact, Iowa has played 9 Power 5 schools so far this season, and King has at least one INT in 6 of those games. Both are deserving, but I think you give King the nod with his team's success.

Caveman Bob

November 24th, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^

I'm alright with Lewis topping out as a semi-finalist. King has a ton of INTs, Hargreaves is the best cover guy in the nation, and Lewis did give up a lot of yards against MSU (despite a overall solid performance).

But Butt's omission is a travesty. He's 2nd out of all P5 tight ends in yardage -- about 200 more than the Stanford and Clemson TEs and only 40 fewer yards and the same number of TDs as Henry. Without a doubt, he's performed like one of the top 2 TEs in the nation this season.