USC Football: Cameron Smith Named to Butkus Award 2016 Watch List

USC football’s Cameron Smith was named to the Butkus Award watch list, as a candidate to be honored as the top linebacker in college football for the 2016 season.

USC linebacker Cameron Smith was one of 51 players chosen for the 2016 Butkus Award watch list Tuesday.

The Butkus Award has been a steady presence in college football since 1985. It is awarded to the nation’s top linebackers at the NFL, college and high school levels.

Smith excited as a true freshman, starting ten games before missing the remainder of the season with a knee injury he suffered against Colorado.

With 78 tackles and three interceptions, he led the team in both marks before his injury. Even so he finished the season second in tackles and proved a surprisingly steady figure at middle linebacker.

RELATED: Cam Smith and four other Trojans named in SI’s Top 100 players for 2016

All three of his interceptions came during USC’s upset of highly-ranked Utah at the Coliseum.

Smith was named an All-Pac-12 honorable mention and earned Freshman All-American first team nods from multiple sources.

Though he missed spring camp while recovering from surgery on his knee, Smith is expected to be one of the stars of USC’s defense in 2016 alongside cornerback Adoree’ Jackson.

SEE ALSO: Adoree’ Jackson named to Thorpe Award watch list

Recognizable names from the watch list include Arizona State’s Salamo Fiso, Stanford’s Peter Kalambayi, Notre Dame’s Nyles Morgan, and Washington’s Azeem Victor.

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USC’s season opening foe Alabama featured three players on the list including Ryan Anderson, Rueben Foster and Tim Williams.

Chris Claiborne was USC’s first and only Butkus Award winner in 1998. Since Claiborne’s win, the Trojans placed Matt Grootegoed as a finalist in 2004 and both Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga in 2008. Su’a Cravens was a semi-finalists last year.

Interestingly enough, the Butkus has been home to USC’s rivals over the last four years. Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o and Jaylon Smith took home the honor in 2012 and 2015. UCLA’s Eric Kendricks won the award in 2014 while Alabama’s C.J. Mosley was the winner in 2013.