Auburn, Georgia and Southeastern Conference champion LSU each claimed two of the SEC’s seven individual football awards as voted on by the league’s head coaches, it was announced Wednesday.
LSU’s Joe Burrow was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, while Auburn’s Derrick Brown was named Defensive Player of the Year. Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle was voted Special Teams Player of the Year, Auburn’s Bo Nix was voted SEC Freshman of the Year, Georgia’s Andrew Thomas was named winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy and LSU coach Ed Orgeron was named SEC Coach of the Year. Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship was recognized as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year last weekend at the SEC Championship Game.
Burrow set LSU records for passing yards (4,715), passing touchdowns (48), passing yards per game (362.7), completions (342), total offense (5,004) and total offense per game (384.9) this season. The Heisman Trophy finalist also broke the SEC records for passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season.
Brown registered 12.5 tackles, four sacks and forced a pair of fumbles to lead the Auburn defense this season. He was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week three times and was named a finalist for the Bednarik, Nagurski, Wuerffel, Outland, Senior Class, Pop Warner and Lott Impact awards.
Waddle is among the SEC and national leaders in punt return average at 24.9 yards per return and a touchdown, and he also has returned a kickoff for a score. He was twice named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week this season.
Nix holds the Auburn freshman record for passing yards (2,366) pass completions (200) and touchdown passes (15) in a season. He has also rushed for seven scores. In Auburn’s last four games he has thrown for 908 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, in addition to three rushing touchdowns.
Thomas has anchored a Georgia offensive line that has allowed just 0.92 sacks per game, which leads the SEC. The Bulldogs’ rushing offense is averaging 189.5 yards per game, which is ranked fifth in the SEC.
Blankenship graduated Cum Laude from Georgia in December 2018 with a degree in Digital and Broadcast Journalism. He is currently enrolled in a Journalism Master’s program and has a 3.65 grade point average.
Orgeron has led LSU to a 13-0 record and the 2019 SEC Championship. He helped guide the Tigers to a school-record five wins against top-10 teams this season. No. 1 LSU will face Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Dec. 28.
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
The SEC All-Freshman Team will be announced Thursday.
2019 SEC Football Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Joe Burrow, LSU
Defensive Player of the Year
Derrick Brown, Auburn
Special Teams Player of the Year
Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
Freshman of the Year
Bo Nix, Auburn
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Rodrigo Blankenship, Georgia
Jacobs Blocking Trophy
Andrew Thomas, Georgia
Coach of the Year
Ed Orgeron, LSU
