:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/16442777/20120904_bsd_sd2_029.0.jpg)
Earlier today, the Rotary Club of Houston announced the pre-season watch list for the Lombardi Award, and Hokie senior linebacker Jack Tyler was one of the 107 college football players on the list. The award is given annually to the best lineman or linebacker in the country.
Tyler, however, somewhat strangely did not make the pre-season watch list for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker yearly. That would seem to be a glaring omission given Tyler's body of work in 2012, in which he led the Hokies in tackles with 119 tackles, 55 of which were solo. But as Andy Bitter put it, sometimes these pre-season award watch lists are not very scientific:
@HokiesJournal Butkus also has GT's Attaochu, who will play defensive end this year. These lists are so arbitrary.
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) July 15, 2013
He also added 2.5 sacks and 3 pass breakups and 3 passes defensed. Tyler started all 13 games for the Hokies after only starting 5 games in the two years prior at Virginia Tech.
Tyler, who was already named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list last week, becomes the second Hokie this off-season to be named to multiple watch lists, joining Antone Exum. Other Hokies that have been honored by being named to the watch lists are quarterback Logan Thomas (Maxwell), defensive end James Gayle (Bednarik), center Andrew Miller (Outland) and kicker Cody Journell (Groza).
For all your Virginia Tech sports news, updates and analysis, with particular emphasis on the fast-approaching 2013 football season, Gobbler Country is the place to be.