For the past five years, winners of the coveted Heisman Trophy have been the top quarterbacks for that year. It has almost become expected for a quarterback to take home the honor. All eyes are on these team leaders week in and week out to see what record they can break, how many passing yards they can rack up, or what split second decisions they can make in a routine 2-minute drill to pull out a win. That’s why it’s no surprise the majority of players on the Heisman watch so far this CFB season are QB’s.
If one were to win again, they would join the likes of Cam Newton (2010 & No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft), RGIII (2011 & No. 2 pick in the 2012 draft), Johnny Manziel (2012 & No. 22 pick in the 2014 draft), Jameis Winston (2013 & No. 1 pick in 2015 draft), and Marcus Mariota (2014 & No. 2 pick in 2015 draft).
But here’s a nice change of scenery for the top honor: a running back has been a clear favorite for the past few weeks now and his name is Leonard Fournette. The LSU RB has made headlines in a tough SEC conference. Fournette is the 1st player in SEC history to run for at least 200 yards in three straight games. This year’s Heisman Poll by ESPN experts has their most recent list loaded with other running backs, as well. Fournette is joined by Nick Chubb (Georgia), Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State), and Paul Perkins (UCLA).
Heading into week five of college football, talk of who could possibly win the Heisman has now officially heated up. By the looks of many Heisman polls, there is a strong likelihood that the five-year QB streak might end (for now). The last non-QB to win was Mark Ingram – also a RB. What’s more interesting is that the last defensive player to win was Charles Woodson – CB – in 1997. According to heismanwatch.com and College Spun, defensive end Myles Garrett from Texas A&M is currently the only defensive player in contention. While not a noticeable standout as of yet, Garrett has some early votes.
The fact that many players in positions on defense seem unable to grab attention for Heisman candidacy is a good question to ask. “Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships” is the age old saying. So why aren’t the players that are asked to stop the big plays celebrated more? To me, the answer can be attributed to the current nature of the game. Now, football is an offensive game as opposed to the hard hitting days where defenses like Ditka’s 1980’s Bears reigned supreme.
I can see why it would be harder nowadays for a DB or a linebacker to pick up nods for contention. So many rules are put in place to protect the quarterback as well as receivers. Concussions are a top worry for all players and the priority is to protect by penalizing questionable hits that were allowed just twenty or twenty-five years ago. It becomes harder to play note worthy defense and pick off a QB when you are just allowed to defend a certain way.
Nevertheless, however the end of the road looks in a couple months, we can be assured that all contenders still have a lot to prove. Conference match ups began two weeks ago and many high powered offenses and Heisman contender led teams, like Baylor and TCU, have yet to play ranked opponents. Whether it’s a RB that will run away with the award in December or not, maybe we can hope for a new trend in winners these upcoming years. Who knows, maybe it will be a center or a safety or a punter.