Georgia Football: Bulldog’s Jenkins And Burnette Named To Watch List
By Danny Bishop
Jordan Jenkins, photo by Sonny Kennedy, http://www.sonnykennedyphotography.com/
Georgia sophomore linebacker Jordan Jenkins has been named to the 2013 Butkus Award Watch List.
This will be the 29th annual selection of the nation’s top linebacker for the Butkus Award. The 2013 watch list includes 51 linebackers from across multiple divisions of college football. The foundation will announce a list of semifinalists in October, followed by the announcement of the Butkus Award finalists in late November.
Jenkins, a native of Hamilton, played in all 14 games as a true freshman last season, starting six, and received the team’s Newcomer of the Year Award. The 6-3, 246-pound Jenkins finished with 31 tackles, including five sacks and eight tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Only All-American Jarvis Jones finished with more sacks (a school record 14.5) for the Bulldogs than Jenkins in 2012.
Jones, now with the Pittsburg Steelers, was one of five finalists for the award in 2012 and was also a finalist in 2011.
Chris Burnette, photo by Sonny Kennedy, http://www.sonnykennedyphotography.com/
Georgia senior guard Chris Burnette has been named to the 2013 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, according to an announcement Monday by the Lombardi Award Committee.
Eligibility for the Lombardi Award is limited to down linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball, or linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
The candidates earned a place on the preliminary watch list by earning All-American honors, being named to their respective all-conference teams or receiving 2013 pre-season honors. The Lombardi Award Watch List will be updated prior to the start of the 2013 season in order to identify other players who have received significant pre-season honors.
The Lombardi Watch List, intended as a reference tool for the Selection Committee, will be periodically updated and revised through the conclusion of the voting to determine the 12 Semifinalists for 2013. The 44th Rotary Lombardi Award will be held on December 11 at the Wortham Center in Houston, Texas.
Burnette, a native of LaGrange, started 12 games last season for the 12-2 Bulldogs. He was voted to the All-SEC Coaches Second Team after helping Georgia have one of the country’s most potent offenses. The Bulldogs set school records with total points (529) and average points a game (37.8) while allowing quarterback Aaron Murray to register more than 3,000 yards passing in each of the last three years.
The three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member earned his degree in Finance last year and married Arielle Haynes in May 2013.
David Pollack is the only Bulldog to win the Lombardi Award after earning the honor in 2004. Last year, Georgia All-American linebacker and current Pittsburgh Steeler Jarvis Jones was one of four finalists for the award.
All photos copyrighted property of Sonny Kennedy,
www.sonnykennedyphotography.com/