Washington State Football: Daiyan Henley named Finalist for Butkus Award

A tremendous accomplishment. Standout linebacker Daiyan Henley is a finalist for the Dick Butkus award, a first for Washington State football

It has been an absolute joy watching Daiyan Henley play football this year for the Washington State Cougars. The senior transfer from Nevada has been nothing short of the best player on the Pac 12’s best defense this season. It was only a matter of time until Henley was to be acknowledged for his outstanding play, as he has recently been named a finalist for the prestigous Dick Butkus award.

The award is given to the nations top linebacker, and is considered by some to be the “defensive Heisman”. This is one of the biggest honors a linebackers can achieve, and Daiyan Henley becomes the first linebacker in Washington State football history to earn such an honor.

He is one of five finalists for the award, with the winner to be announced on or before December 7th. Henley is the only member of the Pac 12 conference to be a finalist. He is second in the conference and 20th in the nation with 102 tackles. He is tied for 12th in the conference with 4 sacks and has already been invited and accepted into this year’s Reeses Senior Bowl.

The list keeps getting longer for Daiyan Henley’s accolades. Let’s hope he can add an Apple Cup trophy to that resume on Saturday as that would cap an almost perfect senior season for the stand out linebacker. It will not be surprising to hear his name called early in this year’s upcoming NFL Draft.

Congratulations, Daiyan! Go Cougs