CHICAGO — Preseason honors keep rolling in for BYU linebacker Cade Uluave who was today named a candidate for the Butkus Award, presented annually by the Butkus Foundation to the nation’s top collegiate linebacker.
Now in its 42nd year, the Butkus Award recognizes the toughness, instincts, leadership, competitiveness, and football character of Dick Butkus, one of the greatest defensive players in football history.
Uluave, 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior from South Jordan, Utah is in his first year at BYU after transferring from Cal. An All-ACC First-Team linebacker in 2025, he led Cal with 100 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries. Over the last three seasons, Uluave played in 34 games for the Bears where he tallied 237 career tackles, 21.5 TFL, six sacks, three interceptions and two forced fumbles.
In addition to earning first-team all-conference honors in 2025, Uluave was All-ACC honorable mention as a sophomore in 2024 and was a first-team Freshman All-American selection by The Athletic, FWAA and College Football News in 2023. He was also named the 2023 Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, Super West Sports Defensive Freshman of the Year and a Phil Steele All-Pac-12 Third Team honoree.
Earlier this week, Uluave was named to Lombardi Award Watch List and was previously selected as a candidate for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was also named preseason All-America by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports and was selected Preseason All-Big 12 by the conference, Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
Uluave prepped at Mountain Ridge High School in Herriman, Utah, where he was a two-way player. On defense, he registered 154 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, returning one for a touchdown. On offense, he rushed for 1,638 yards and 26 touchdowns on 290 carries and had 20 catches for 164 yards and one touchdown. He also participated in baseball as well as track and field and earned the Utah Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Scholar-Athlete Award during his 2021-22 junior academic year.
The 2026 Butkus Award Watch List features 51 linebackers representing 42 colleges and universities from across the country. The list includes representatives from seven conferences, led by the SEC (14), Big 12 (12), Big Ten (12) and ACC (9), with additional representatives from the MAC (1) and Mountain West (1), along with two Independents.
The Butkus Award remains one of college football's most respected individual honors, recognizing linebackers whose performance reflects the standard established by Dick Butkus more than six decades ago at the University of Illinois and throughout his Hall of Fame NFL career.
Semifinalists for the 2026 Butkus Award will be announced on Oct. 28, finalists on Nov. 20, and the winner will be revealed the week of Dec. 7. Selection will be based on performance throughout the 2026 season.