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DeVonta Smith is said to be a Heisman Trophy winner like no other.
The Alabama star wide receiver is considered the favorite to take home the award on Tuesday night in three quarters: Crimson Tide teammate Mac Jones, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Florida’s Kyle Trask.
Smith would be the fourth wide receiver to win the Heisman, but none of the previous winners had his CV. Unlike Desmond Howard of Michigan, Tim Brown of Notre Dame, and Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska, who have strengthened their cases by being dynamic kick returers and more than occasional runners out of the backfield, Smith has barely touched that kind of things.
The explosive evolution of the passing game has made receivers more important than ever. Just being the best wide receiver is all Smith needed to assert his status as the best college football player.
“ I think the emergence of the 7v7 has increased the skill level of a lot of receivers and quarterbacks, and they’re getting the ball out on the perimeter a lot faster than they did maybe 10 years ago. or 20 years, expanding the land. horizontally and vertically, ” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “ And we’re always looking for ways to create explosives, and the easiest way to create explosives is to throw the soccer ball. ”
Day and the Buckeyes (7-0) will have to figure out how to slow down Smith and the Crimson Tide (12-0) during the National Championship game on Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Not one to brag about, Smith doesn’t see himself as carrying the banner of his position group as much as representing the grinders.
“I guess you could say that,” Smith said Monday. “The person who goes out and just puts it to work, she’s going to get the things she deserves. So if you work for things, you will get the things you deserve. ”
The senior has 105 catches for 1,641 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.
When Rodgers won the Heisman in 1972, he had 58 catches for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns, but he also ran the ball 73 times for 348 yards and 10 touchdowns and returned two kicks for the scores.
After Rodgers’ victory, the Heisman faced the running backs 11 times in a row.
Brown fit the Rodgers mold when he won the award with relatively modest stats: 990 scrum yards and seven total touchdowns, including three from punt return.
Howard was closer to the modern receiver, but again, versatility was part of the mix. In addition to his 19 touchdown catches, Howard ran for two runs and had a kick and punt return for a touchdown. His famous Heisman pose came after a return from a punt for a score against Ohio State.
Howard said in his day there weren’t a lot of passes, even the best receivers.
“We had to use other means to show our talents,” Howard told AP. “I’m playing for (Michigan coach) Gary Moeller in (former coach) Bo Schembechler’s offense. We don’t quite broadcast the ball. You have to shine in another way. ”
After Howard’s win, receivers were rarely more than marginal contenders at Heisman.
Marshall’s Randy Moss was fourth in the Heisman vote in 1997 and Pittsburgh’s Larry Fitzgerald was second behind Oklahoma’s Jason White in 2003. None of those future NFL greats needed more than their receiving stats to get Heisman’s consideration.
As quarterbacks racked up Heisman’s wins in the 2000s, recognition for the guys who catch all those assists has started to increase.
Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech was fifth in the Heisman vote in 2008 and Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State did the same in 2010. Marquise Lee of Southern California was fourth in 2012.
The next finalist receiver was Amari Cooper of Alabama in 2014, 11 years after Fitzgerald. Cooper was third. Dede Westbrook of Oklahoma finished fourth as a runner-up in 2016.
The constant increase in dependence on the pass has helped recipients gain recognition, but with that comes a trap – so to speak.
“What could potentially work against them is that the guy who throws the ball at them often gets more credit than the guy who catches the ball,” Howard said.
There was little to no Heisman buzz around Smith this year until late October, when Alabama’s other star receiver Jaylen Waddle was lost to a leg injury.
While Jones was making big passing figures in Crimson Tide’s powerful offense, Smith was the player who stood out the most. And he didn’t need gimmick games and special team highlights to do it.
Smith returned a punt for a touchdown at the end of the season against Arkansas and he played a 14-yard TD on one of his four carries. But he’s Heisman’s favorite because he excels in his lead role, and he just might start a trend given the direction the game is going.
“I think having those kinds of skills that can score points is something that you definitely want to try out and showcase,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said, “and I’m seeing more and more of it. ‘teams try to do it.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo on https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen on https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/
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More AP College Football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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