Texas football sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. is having a career season for a defensive unit that ranks among the nation's best and in the SEC this fall. In Texas's decisive 31-14 win over the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 13, Hill registered a career-high four tackles for loss, two sacks, and 11 combined tackles.
Sophomore bias hurts Texas football star LB Anthony Hill Jr.'s snub from Butkus Award from the five finalist candidates?
Hill is putting up career-best numbers this season for the No. 1 ranked defense in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency (per DFEI).
Despite putting up All-American-caliber numbers for the nation's most efficient defense, Hill was snubbed from the list of five finalists for the Butkus Award, announced on the morning of Nov. 25.
The SEC had three out of the five players named as finalists for the award as the nation's top linebacker this season. Something that can be easily noticed when looking at the five finalists for the Butkus Award this year is that all of them are upperclassmen.
The following linebackers were named as finalists for the Butkus Award for the 2024 campaign.
Barrett Carter, Clemson (Sr)
Chris Paul Jr., Ole Miss (Jr)
Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma (Sr)
Carson Schwesinger, UCLA (Jr)
Jalon Walker, Georgia (Jr)
A freshman or sophomore has never won the Butkus Award since 1985, in the four decades the trophy has been handed to the nation's top linebacker in college football.
I can't say for sure if Hill was knocked down a peg in consideration as a finalist by the selection committee of journalists, coaches, media, etc. for the Butkus Award recipient. But it's clear that being a more known linebacker name at the P4 level with proven experience was a common theme among the selections for the finalists.
Hill had more than enough qualifications to be among the finalists, if not being on pace to be the outright award winner, this fall. He's got the statistics to back up the claim that he should be a finalist for the award, along with receiving weekly conference award recognition multiple times this season. He's also playing for one of the top three teams in the nation in both major polls this week for the Longhorns.
The all-around argument that Hill was a huge snub for the Butkus Award finalist can be summed up easily with his PFF grades this season. PFF grades don't tell the whole story of who will be picked for various awards, but it does give a good indicator of who is deserving regarding all-around efficiency and production on defense.
Hill is the highest-graded linebacker in the SEC this season (per PFF), and the second highest-graded linebacker in the P4. He's had more multiple-tackle-for-loss and sack games (four) against P4 conference opponents than any other major conference linebacker this fall.
That's not to mention the fact that Hill grades out higher on defense than any of the five players selected as finalists.
Hill's defensive statistics have him on pace to be an All-American in 2024
Regarding his defensive and turnover production, Hill has more sacks, tackles for loss, and fumbles forced than any of the five Butkus Award finalists. He also has more combined tackles than roughly half of the award finalists.
Texas's Anthony Hill Jr. is the only FBS LB with at least 70 tackles, 15 TFLs, 6 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles this season.
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) November 25, 2024
-79 total tackles
-15 tackles for loss (leads SEC LBs)
-7.5 sacks (leads SEC LBs)
-4 forced fumbles (leads SEC)
-90.1 defensive grade (leads SEC LBs) pic.twitter.com/LHtKWIkvGe
Hill is the only FBS linebacker with at least 70 combined tackles, 15 tackles for loss, six sacks, and three forced fumbles this season. If that statistical argument that Hill has reached heights and production levels that no other P4 linebacker has seen this season isn't enough to show that he deserves to be a finalist and an All-American, I don't know what does.
He's made a big impact on Texas's defense, leading the Longhorns in most major statistical defensive categories while bolstering this unit to be one of the most improved and effective against the run and the pass than any other defense in the SEC.
Twice named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week this season, Hill has garnered the respect of one of the top performers at linebacker in the conference multiple times this fall.
The fact of the matter is that Hill is very likely still in the running to be a first or second-team AP All-American this season with the current pace he's on statistically. If the trend holds true that the Butkus Award mainly favors upperclassmen among the finalist picks, Hill should be able to avenge the snub next season during his junior campaign at Texas.