CHICAGO — Tennessee senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was named to the Butkus Award collegiate watch list, the Butkus Foundation announced Tuesday.

The Butkus Award, now in its 32nd season, honors the nation’s best linebackers at the college, high school and professional levels. The collegiate-level award includes candidates from 44 universities.

Award semifinalists will be announced by Oct. 31, and the list will be trimmed to the finalists by Nov. 21. The winner will be selected on or before Dec. 6.

Reeves-Maybin, who is also on the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Award, is one of the most consistent linebackers in the SEC and returns for his senior season after ranking seventh in the SEC in total tackles (105) and ninth in tackles per game (8.1) a year ago. Hailing from Clarksville, Tennessee, he has started in each of his last 26 games for Tennessee and was selected as a 2016 team captain by head coach Butch Jones at the DISH Orange & White Game in April. Reeves-Maybin led the Vols in both tackles and tackles-for-loss (14.0) in 2015, and turned heads when he racked up a career-best 21 tackles against Oklahoma in early September. Reeves-Maybin is a 2016 Phil Steele Preseason Third Team All-American and Lindy’s ranks him as the No. 5 outside linebacker in the nation.

ABOUT THE BUTKUS AWARD: Formed in 1985, the Butkus Award was expanded in 2008 to honor linebackers at three levels while helping spread the word about Butkus’ “I Play Clean” initiative, which encourages teens to eat well, train hard, and play with attitude instead of resorting to performance-enhancing drugs. More information is available at www.iplayclean.org.

The Butkus Award is presented by the Butkus Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization. The honor is part of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which includes the 22 most prestigious awards in college football with 722 years of selection excellence