CHICAGO – Temple's graduate linebacker has been named to the 2019 Butkus Award Watch List honoring the nation's best linebackers. The list includes 51 players from 39 different universities, however, Russell is the only linebacker to make the list from the American Athletic Conference and one of only five outside of the Power 5 conferences.
Russell enters his third year as a starter but the first with the benefit of a healthy preseason. He started all 13 games a year ago after recovering form ACL surgery for the second straight year. In 2018, he led the nation with five fumble recoveries, including one that he forced and recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.