Nyles Morgan On Butkus Award Watch List

The Butkus Award released its watch list and yet another Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker is on the list. This time, it's junior linebacker Nyles Morgan.

Morgan has been a central figure in any Notre Dame discussion this offseason. The short take on Morgan is that this is THE year for him to shine and display his talents after playing behind the departed Joe Schmidt his first two years. It seems as if Morgan might finally take that leap this year now that the "mental" part of Brian VanGorder's defense has finally sunk into his brain.

Instituted in 1985, The Butkus Award® is one of the elite individual honors in college football. In 2008, The Butkus Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, took stewardship of the award to fully realize the original purpose of honoring athletic achievement and service to the community while honoring the nation’s best high school, college, and professional linebackers. An independent Butkus Award Selection Committee comprised of 51 experts, including professional, college and high school scouts, and prominent sports journalists, conduct the selection process.

Notre Dame has had two players win this award in the past with Manti Te'o in 2012 and Jaylon Smith in 2015.