The Georgia Monster wins the Bednarik
But there's questions by some if he should have won it:
Here's his 2021 stats, 28 total tackles, 2 sacks:
This is, apparently, late in the game against Alabama last week. Gassed?
It must be that early in games he always attracts double teams, which is very valuable to the overall team.
I know of a guy who plays a little different, even late in games:
Here's some stats comparison:
But then, awards are not just about stats....... which is true in this case, I guess?
So the guy won an award. I know some guys who'd maybe like to meet the monster, and let him know in person what they think of him winning it:
December 10th, 2021 at 1:48 AM ^
Kayvon Thibodoux played 9 of his team's 12 regular season games and had 7 sacks and was a finalist for this award.
Aidan Hutchinson doubled Thibodoux up, is a finalist for the Heisman trophy, and yet somehow the Bednarik people didn't even feel his season was worthy of being a finalist for their award.
To directly quote Bo Schembechler, "Who gives a good flying god damn about the Bednarik?" Or something like that. "Also, to hell with Notre Dame."
December 10th, 2021 at 7:56 AM ^
The Bednarik Committee preparing to explain why it omitted Hutchinson from its list of finalists
December 10th, 2021 at 1:57 AM ^
How was Hutchinson not even a finalist?
December 10th, 2021 at 10:59 AM ^
Is this the real sign language for this? If its not, it should be, this is great and readily understandable.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
It’s genius. I am in awe.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:32 AM ^
Well if Aiden gives a damn, this could be some great motivation. Moreso for our O-Line. If they can eat him up one on one and drain his energy it could be a huge positional win
December 10th, 2021 at 4:57 AM ^
He’s only in for, maybe 50% of the snaps so shouldn’t be hard. The other half he’s tiring himself out running to the oxygen tank. The offense needs to run hurry up and snap the ball every time he’s baby stepping his way to the sideline and rack up the penalties. Sounds like a good gameplan to me.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:06 AM ^
Wow, I didn't know his effort was so anemic! Our O-line is going to have him for dinner if he's like that for the game; considering he's going to have 4 weeks off until the game, I think he's going to be in bad shape.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:37 AM ^
I think he came in around 400lbs and was told to get down to 325 which I don’t think ever happened. He plays around a biscuit or two of 350. He eats up space and commands a double team just to move him. Doesn’t exactly scream defensive player of the year. Total slap in the face for integrity of the award.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:58 AM ^
Boo-hoo-flu CJ Stroud just called. Jordan Davis apparently also had a case of the flu-bug, otherwise Davis would've dominated and UGA would've won the game.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:10 AM ^
I know we don’t do tempo very well, but I’d like to see us use it to trap him on the field for an extended drive and see how soft their middle is by the end.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:39 AM ^
Aidan.
We should spell his name correctly.
December 10th, 2021 at 4:26 AM ^
Hmm. There must be something here we're not seeing. Or at least not SEC-ing.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:02 AM ^
Somebody released their list of finalists too early. They've got to be embarrassed after the last week of games.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:07 AM ^
I wonder what Chuck would think of this...
December 10th, 2021 at 6:35 AM ^
That Joe Moore OL trophy is pretty great. UM's line deserves this for sure. I hope to see it on display someday at Schembechler Hall.
Also, that LT has gut like me. A few too many beers and pizzas
December 10th, 2021 at 6:45 AM ^
Let’s hope the Michigan o line turns Bednarik into ground chuck.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:36 AM ^
From the looks of that film clip--I am thinking it will be a good day for UM's offensive line
December 10th, 2021 at 6:49 AM ^
It would be classic Detroit Lions for them to pass on the opportunity to draft Hutchinson and select Davis instead.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:14 AM ^
Yep and he'll be terrible and we will be forced to cut him. Then the Patriots will sign him and he will lead them to a super bowl.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:23 AM ^
This guy is the next Shaun Rogers.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:37 AM ^
That one video clip is an indictment. Taking plays off is a sin of sins in football and always deserving of derision. For the winner of the Bednarik Award to do this is unconscionable!
How the hell was PFF's #1 overall defensive player and a Heisman finalist not even considered for this award?
I mean, if that guy plays a half-hearted down like that against Michigan, Vastardis will plant him on his fat ass - and it will be glorious to watch!
December 10th, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^
Truer words have never been spoken. I’m at a loss on this one. If I’m a Georgia fan I’d feel like this was somehow a fixed award and definitely not earned.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
He knows not, what is coming on Dec 31st...
December 10th, 2021 at 8:53 AM ^
bumbles bounce. notice vastardis has good hand position and excellent pad level on the bumble.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
Uh, while I certainly appreciate the spirit of the post, that's uh...not what that looks like.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Underrated comment.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:54 AM ^
We will consider this a participation trophy.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:57 AM ^
The Bednarik Award... It's kind of like winning the NIT in basketball.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
I've been so impressed with Hutchinson's effort. I honestly can't remember another guy that gives his effort and enthusiasm on every play all game long. Even at the end of the game he's fired up after every play and firing off the ball, fighting off blocks like the first quarter. It's truly impressive. Hutch is special. You can really tell how important it is to him. He's playing for more than just an NFL contract. He loves UM, his teammates, and his coaches. We are so lucky to have him.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
Winovich was like that too wasn't he? Obviously Hutchinson is more talented but both give maximum effort on every play.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
Winovich was similar and he certainly had energy, but Hutch seems to have taken it to another level. It probably doesn't hurt that Hutch is a little better and makes more plays so you see him celebrating more often. Maybe another difference is Hutch did it at the end of the year and Winovich seemed to be banged up at the end of his senior year?
December 10th, 2021 at 9:30 AM ^
The big Ten needs to start a marketing campaign to tell everyone it is the best conference--
repeat it often enough...
This is clear SEC bias as we all know
December 10th, 2021 at 9:49 AM ^
He won the Bednarik award, he's not even remotely the best defensive player in the country. He's the best high profile defender on a top ranked SEC team. They should make separate awards for players on high profile SEC teams with winning records, so they can give away "Best Player In The Country At A Given Position" awards to players who actually are the best player in the country at a given position.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
You can make a strong argument that a player who only specializes in stopping the run no matter how well he does it should not win this award. However, stats are not a great way to evaluate a NT given their job is to eat up blocker so other can make plays. There is a reason no one including Bama has run the ball on Georgia and he is a big reason why.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
Yeah, NTs and DTs typically have underwhelming raw stat totals so looking just at those isn't helpful. I do think Alabama did fine running against them; the Tide's rushing offense has (for them) underwhelmed most of the year so 4.4 ypc isn't half-bad.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
Clearly "arterry" and his Alabama shirt are part of the "Blue Wall" conspiracy to belittle MSU by criticizing a Georgia player who beat out a Michigan player who was a finalist for something an MSU player wasn't because something something Michigan is the Illuminati.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:42 AM ^
Davis is a really good player, and absolutely he's going to be different than Hutchinson because they play different positions and have different roles. He's one of the best defenders in the country, as is Hutchinson, and is Will Anderson at Alabama.
I do think voters, in general, select guys they see and hear about more, and all we've heard this year is how dominant Georgia's line is (against bad offenses for the most part, but still). So some of these awards feel as much media/narrative driven as the by-product of actual anaylsis.
December 10th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
One of my tweets actually made it here.