The Heisman Trophy is not only a great addition to a player’s trophy case, but it’s winner tend to see a rise in their draft stock. In eight of the last ten NFL drafts, the Heisman Trophy winner has either been drafted first or second overall.
Every college football player wants to win this award.
But not all players are evaluated equally. The award naturally skews towards offensive production, especially favoring quarterbacks and running backs. Only six players who have won the trophy were not quarterbacks or running backs.
Historically, running backs have had the best odds of taking home the hardware. But 17 of the last 19 winners have been quarterbacks, including each of the last three.
By the look of it in 2019, that trend will continue. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is the favorite to win this year, and everyone else seems a distant contender.
Three of the four finalists for the 2019 trophy are quarterbacks, including Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts and Ohio State’s Justin Fields. But Fields and his teammate Chase Young have already made Heisman history.
Fields and Young are already the sixth pair of teammates to stand on the finalists’ stage together. They are also the first offensive and defensive duo in the award’s history.
Young, a defensive end, is hoping to be the second defensive player ever selected for the award. While Burrow will take the award in all likelihood, a second-place result for Young would be the highest for a defensive lineman since 1980.
The award has been won by only one primarily defensive player, and that was Charles Woodson in 1997.
It’s not totally unheard of for a defender to be considered for the award. We only have to go as far back as 2016 since the last defensive finalist. That was Jabrill Peppers, a hybrid safety from Michigan.
Since 1980, only three players have finished as high as third in Heisman voting, and only five have done so in the award’s entire history.
Since the designation of “finalist” was established in 1982, nine defensive players have been invited to the ceremony: Brian Bosworth, Steve Emtman, Warren Sapp, Charles Woodson, Ndamukong Suh, Tyrann Mathieu, Manti Te’o, Jabrill Peppers, and now Chase Young.
The fact of the matter is that defenders just don’t get considered for the Heisman. Young is a perfect example of how this plays out.
Young recorded a school record 16.5 sacks, which is the most in FBS this year by 2.5. But the voters have to take into account that he missed two games due to a suspension. He also has played in quite a few games where Ohio State was so dominant that he didn’t play in the entire second half.
Young has been as dominant as any player in college football this year. He might be able to hoist the Heisman any other year.
But unfortunately for Young, Burrow has been just as dominant, but in a position that Heisman voters favor heavily.
Heisman or not, Young will not make it past the first five picks of the draft. Burrow will probably beat him out on the draft board as well, but Young could go as high second overall. Four of the teams with the top six picks (as of Week 14) already have a franchise quarterback, so teams like the Giants, Redskins, Lions, or Cardinals might want to add a defensive end to their ranks.
After this years’ Heisman race, who will be the next defensive player to be considered?
Derek Stingley Jr., a cornerback from LSU, is already considered to be one of the best defenders in the country as a true freshman. He appears to be the only player in the foreseeable future that could compete at a Heisman level.
A distant second choice could be Antoine Winfield Jr. The Minnesota safety will be a junior in 2020, and will challenge Stingley for the top defensive back in the country if he forgoes the draft and plays another season in college.
For all we know, it could be years before another defender finals in the Heisman race. It took 62 years for a defensive player to win the trophy. It could take another 62 years before it happens again.
Will we ever see a defensive player win the Heisman Trophy again?