College football has many national awards for individual athletes.
Some of the biggest honors include the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award, Fred Biletnikoff Award, Dick Butkus Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Award, and Jim Thorpe Award. For defensive players, the Butkus, Bednarik, Nagurski, and Thorpe awards are the most prized ones. Linebackers benefit from one of the four; however, the others can go to any defensive position. At the University of Alabama, no true sophomore has ever won national honors on defense.
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Derrick Thomas, Rolando McClain, C.J. Mosley, and Reuben Foster all won the Butkus Award as upperclassmen.
Jonathan Allen won the Bednarik and Nagurski awards as a senior in 2016. Minkah Fitzpatrick took home the Bednarik and Thorpe awards as a junior in 2017, while Antonio Langham won the Thorpe Award as a senior in 1993.
Malachi Moore is in a special situation with the Crimson Tide for the coming season.
A native of Trussville, Ala., Moore could be the first sophomore to win a couple of national awards. His performance as a freshman allowed him to be a Freshman All-SEC, second-team All-SEC, and Freshman All-American selection.
The 6-foot, 182-pounder led Alabama’s defense with four forced turnovers, including three interceptions. He returned a fumble for a touchdown versus Tennessee and totaled 44 tackles, four tackles for loss, six pass breakups, and two quarterback hurries. Moore is often compared to Fitzpatrick and George Teague, but he has a chance to achieve something they did not do. Should he duplicate his performance from 2020 and add a couple of pick-sixes, Moore will be in a position to win the Thorpe and Bednarik Awards.
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Teague has stated before how Moore is up and coming, and the young star is training with Justin Woodall.
The season is up for the taking, and Moore is ready to go get it.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
