We continue to scan the college football universe for the plethora of preseason watch lists and the latest comes in the form of the Butkus Award.
Named after the late, great, NFL and College Football Hall-of-Famer, Dick Butkus, the award goes out to college football’s best linebacker annually. On Tuesday, the award released its preseason watch list and two Ohio State linebackers landed among the fray.
C.J. Hicks and Sonny Styles were two of the 51 names appearing in the announcement. Both appear to be in a close competition for the starting Will Linebacker spot with the Buckeyes, but there’s no doubt you’ll see both on the field a lot because of their playmaking ability.
Both players were five-star prospects in the 2022 recruiting class, and both are expected to bust out potentially in 2024. Styles appears to have a slight lead on the position because he took most of the first-team reps so far in preseason camp, but the coaches insist things are near kneck-and kneck.
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