Some people may have noticed that senior linebacker Amarlo Herrera’s statistical output and overall performance this season has been just as good or better than his teammates Ramik Wilson and Jordan Jenkins, who were named Butkus Award semifinalists on Monday.
Count Herrera among those who have noticed.
“Yeah, it’s weird, but congratulations to those guys who made it,” Herrera said, laughing and smiling.
Herrera, a senior inside linebacker from College Park, leads the Bulldogs in tackles with 57, is second in tackles for loss with six, is third in sacks with three and sixth in quarterback pressures with five.
Wilson, a senior from inside linebacker from Tampa, is second on the team in tackles (55), fourth in tackles for loss (5.5) and has one sack and three pressures.
Jenkins, a junior from Hamilton, leads the team in tackles for loss (6.5) and QB pressures (18), is third in tackles (38) and second in sacks (3.5).
Herrera admitted that there has been “a little bit” of locker room chatter between those guys.
“I said a little something to Ramik, and then I always say something to Jordan because he’s sorry,” Herrera said. “So I said I didn’t know how he made it and (Leonard) Floyd’s not on it either.”
Floyd, a redshirt sophomore, leads the Bulldogs with five sacks and has six tackles for loss and 34 tackles overall.
Asked if the playful Jenkins had bragged about being a Butkus semifinalist, Herrera cracked: “He won’t brag about it to me because I’ll slap him.”
The bottom line is Georgia’s linebacking corps seems to be living up to its preseason billing as one of the best in the SEC.
“Our linebackers are doing a really good job,” Goergia coach Mark Richt said. “… That’s a really good group of players and they have played well. … I guess you can’t have too many guys from one team on that list, but those (other) guys I think would be just as deserving.”
About that, Herrera can agree.
“We’re getting a lot of tackles, a lot of tackles for loss and we’re just causing a lot of problems for offenses,” he said.
