Griz Linebacker Earns Another Preseason Honor

Preseason recognition keeps rolling in for University of Montana Grizzly senior linebacker Josh Buss.

Today (Thursday) Josh was named to the 25-man STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award watch list, given annually to the best defensive player in FCS football. Josh is the only player from the Big Sky Conference to be included and is one of 10 players who were also on the list in 2017.

Josh has now earned four preseason accolades. He is the preseason pick for Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year, he is the only Big Sky Conference defender to be placed on the STATS FCS first-team All-America list and he is the only FCS player named to the Butkus Award watch list, given annually to the best linebacker in all of college football. Wow! Our thanks to UM Sports Information Director Eric Taber for sending us the news.

That is a lot of pressure to put on a guy before fall camp even gets underway. Of course, preseason honors don't automatically translate into huge success, but they certainly increase expectations. And an area of concern is that Josh was noticeably absent during all of spring practice recovering from injuries. But some people I've talked to that I consider reliable sources feel Josh will be ready to go when it counts on September 1, the season opener against Northern Iowa. Congratulations Josh and here is to an award-winning senior season.

DB