Kansas University senior Joe Mortensen, a first-team all-Big 12 selection a year ago, was one of 66 players named to the 2008 Butkus Award watch list Thursday.
The award is named for former football great Dick Butkus and annually honors the top linebacker in college football.
Mortensen, who led the Jayhawks with 106 tackles en route to first-team all-Big 12 honors in ’07, also has landed on watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Award and the Lombardi Award, which go to the nation’s best defensive player and top player within five yards of the ball, respectively.