CHICAGO - Baylor junior linebacker Taylor Young has been selected for the 51-member preseason watch list for the 32nd-annual Butkus Award, as announced by the Butkus Foundation Tuesday.
Young, the starting weakside linebacker in 12 of 13 games in 2015, was named honorable mention All-Big 12 by the league coaches in his sophomore season. He totaled 80 tackles (60 solo, 13.5 for a loss of 38 yards), four sacks (-19 yards), two QB hurries, one PBU and one fumble recovery last season. Young averaged 1.12 tackles for loss per game, which ranked tied for sixth in the Big 12 and his 6.7 tackles per game average ranked 15th in the conference.
Last week, Young was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list, given to the College Defensive Player of the Year.
Young gives Baylor a representative on the list in three of the last four years as Bryce Hager was a Butkus Award watch list member in 2013 and 2014.
The full Butkus Award watch list includes 51 linebackers, while Young is just one of six players from the Big 12 Conference on the list.
Butkus Awards are presented annually to the nation's best linebackers at the professional, collegiate and high school levels. There are 51 players named to both the collegiate and high school watch lists, honoring the now-retired professional jersey number of Dick Butkus, who is regarded as one of football's all-time best defensive players. There are also 51 members on the selection panel comprised of coaches, journalists and evaluators.
Semifinalists for the award will be named on Oct. 31 with finalists selected by Nov. 21 and the winner announced on or before Dec. 6.
