Jamon Dumas-Johnson on Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List
Kentucky senior Jamon Dumas-Johnson has been named to the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List, announced today by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) in association with The Associated Press (AP) and the Fiesta Bowl Organization.
Dumas-Johnson, a 6-foot-1, 245-pound inside linebacker from Hyattsville, Maryland, transferred to Kentucky in 2024 after three seasons at Georgia. He played in 38 career games and helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022.
He had started in 24 straight games for the Dawgs, including all nine in 2023, before suffering a broken left forearm (radius bone) in a win over Missouri. After surgery on Nov. 7, Dumas-Johnson missed the remainder of the season and transferred to Kentucky in January of 2024. He returned to action on March 19, 2024 and participated in UK’s spring practice.
Before his injury, he totaled 34 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry and earned a spot on several national watch lists, including the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Butkus Award and the Lombardi Award. He also was selected to the Associated Press Preseason All-America First Team and The Sporting News Preseason All-America First Team.
Dumas-Johnson had a fantastic season as a true sophomore at UGA, becoming a finalist for the Butkus Award and being named a First-Team All-American by Sporting News and ESPN.
He enters the 2024 season with 126 career tackles, including 17 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, seven pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble.
Since 2018, the award has recognized college football student-athletes for overcoming injury, illness, or other circumstances. At the conclusion of each season, in a vote by a panel of college football writers, editors, and sports information directors, three college football student-athletes are honored as Comeback Player of the Year Award winners at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
Previous winners of the Comeback Player of the Year Award include: 2023 – Blake Corum (Michigan); Jacob Dobbs (Holy Cross); Mike Hollins (Virginia); 2022 – Mohamed Ibrahim (Minnesota); Laiatu Latu (UCLA); Michael Penix Jr. (Washington); 2021 – Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan); McKenzie Milton (Florida State); J.J. Weaver (Kentucky); 2020 – Jarek Broussard (Colorado); Kenneth Horsey (Kentucky); Silas Kelly (Coastal Carolina); 2019 – Jake Luton (Oregon State); Drew Wilson (Georgia Southern); Octavion Wilson (Salisbury); 2018 – Antwan Dixon (Kent State), Seth Simmer (Dartmouth); Antonio Wimbush (Carson-Newman). For a complete list of past honorees, visit www.Comeback-Player.com.
