Hutchinson Named 2021 Chicago Tribune Silver Football Winner
12/10/2021 10:15:00 AM | Football
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The winner of the 2021 Chicago Tribune Silver Football is senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson of the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan football team, it was announced on Friday (Dec. 10). The award goes to the Big Ten's most valuable player, regardless of position, as voted on by the head coaches of the Big Ten.
Hutchinson is the 18th player from Michigan to win the award and the first since quarterback Denard Robinson in 2010. Fellow defensive end Brandon Graham (2009) and cornerback Charles Woodson (1997) are the only other Wolverines to capture the honor from the defensive side of the ball. Three of the last four defensive players to win this honor have played at Michigan, the other being Chase Young (Ohio State, 2019).
The publication reports that Hutchinson received 16 points from the Big Ten coaches' voting ballots with seven first-place votes (most) and two second-place votes. Each coach makes a first- and second-place vote and coaches are not permitted to vote for their own players.
The senior from Plymouth, Mich., has already captured the Rotary Lombardi Award, and is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He is this year's Woodson-Nagurski Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and is the Big Ten's Smith-Brown Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. He has been named a first team All-American by several publications including the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Hutchinson is a two-time defensive captain and the tone-setter for the Michigan defense, which lists top-15 in four major categories including scoring defense (fourth). He has totaled 58 stops (33 solo) this season and has set a new program sack record with 14.0 and counting through 13 games, a figure that ranks third nationally.
Hutchinson had three sacks against Ohio State in the U-M win, more than the Buckeyes had allowed to a full team this season, and his 15 quarterback hurries in that game as measured by Pro Football Focus College (PFF College) are the most in a single game since the stat has been measured. The service grades Hutchinson as the No. 1 player in the country on defense and his pass-rush grade against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game was the highest of his career.
Off the field, Hutchinson is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten honoree studying applied exercise science.
Hutchinson is a finalist for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award, the Senior CLASS Award, and the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy.
