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Dee Milliner, Robert Lester and Dre Kirkpatrick; Mark Barron, Vinnie Sunseri, Kareem Jackson and Javier Arenas. None of those, or any of the other celebrated defensive backs could win the Thorpe Award in their time in Tuscaloosa, as Nick Saban had a drought despite sending multiple DB’s to the NFL.
That drought has now come to an end. Alabama Crimson Tide star Minkah Fitzpatrick, the celebrated do-it-all DB, won the Thorpe Award at Thursday’s College Football Awards show. Fitzpatrick beat out Josh Jackson of the Iowa Hawkeyes and DeShon Elliott of the Texas Longhorns to earn the honor of “Best DB in the nation.”
Minkah had 52 total tackles, 6.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, an INT, six PD and one forced fumble this past season with Alabama, and was a force no matter where he lined up. To say he’s deserving of the honor would be an understatement.