Pac-12 Football 2017 preview

Defensive Player of the Year: LB Azeem Victor, Washington

The Washington Huskies were the class of the Pac-12 last season, winning the conference championship en-route to a spot in the College Football Playoff. Amazingly, they did this all without their best linebacker for the final three regular season games, the Pac-12 Championship Game, and their Peach Bowl loss to Alabama.

Well, that player is back in 2017, forgoing turning pro for one more shot at a national title.

Azeem Victor is an incredibly talented middle linebacker, who just may be the best player in the country at his position. Last season, he broke his leg during the team’s blowout win against Cal, only to see his team fall at the hands of the USC Trojans the following week. The fact that he returned for his senior season is huge for the Huskies, who lost a ton of talent in their secondary due to the NFL Draft this past April.

Though he did not play in the team’s final four games, Victor still was named First Team All Pac-12, as he finished second on the team with 67 tackles. During his sophomore season in 2015, Victor was Honorable Mention All Pac-12, and has gotten steadily better over his first three years on campus.

If he can stay healthy in 2017, he is going to have a monster year, and should spearhead a defense that will bring Washington back to the Pac-12 title game.

The combination of Victor and Keishawn Bierria should be dominant in the middle for the Huskies, who also have one of the best defensive lines in the conference. The Huskies open up their 2017 campaign on the road against Rutgers, so it will be a nice, easy game for Victor to get back into game speed.

He is going to get triple-digit tackles if he plays a full slate of games this season, and with another big year, he should hear his name called in the first round of next April’s NFL Draft.