DeVonta Smith would be a Heisman Trophy winner unlike any other.
The Alabama star receiver is said to be the favorite to win the award Tuesday night over three defenders: Crimson Tide Mac Jones teammate Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Kyle Trask of Florida.
Smith would be the fourth wide receiver to take the Heisman home, but none of the previous winners had his resume. Unlike Desmond Howard of Michigan, Tim Brown of Notre Dame and Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska, who reinforced their cases by being dynamic kickers and more than occasional runners off the field, Smith was barely interested in these things.
The explosive evolution of the passing game has made receivers more important than ever. Simply being the best pass catcher is all Smith needed to defend his position as the best player in college football.
” I think the rise of 7-on-7 increased the skill level of many receivers and defenders, and they put the ball in the perimeter much faster than maybe 10 or 20 years ago, spreading the field horizontally and vertically ‘ “said Ohio State coach Ryan Day.” And we’re always looking for ways to create explosives, and the easiest way to create an explosive is to throw the football. ”
Day and the Buckeyes (7-0) will have to figure out how to slow down Smith and the Crimson Tide (12-0) in the national championship game on January 11 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Without bragging, Smith doesn’t see himself carrying his position group’s flag as much as representing the grinders.
“I think you could say that,” said Smith on Monday. ” The person who leaves and simply dedicates himself to work, he will receive the things he deserves. So, if you work for things, you will get the things you deserve. ”
The senior has 105 receptions for 1,641 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.
When Rodgers won Heisman in 1972, he had 58 receptions for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns, but he also ran the ball 73 times for 348 yards and 10 touchdowns and returned two punts to score.
After Rodgers’ victory, Heisman ran again 11 consecutive times.
Brown fit Rodgers’ mold when he won the prize with relatively modest statistics: 990 yards of scrimmage and seven touchdowns in total, including three per punt return.
Howard was closer to the modern receiver, but again versatility was part of the package. In addition to his 19 touchdown receptions, Howard ran for two points and had a kick and a return punt for a touchdown. His famous Heisman pose came after a punt to score against Ohio State.
Howard said that in his day there just weren’t many passes coming even to the best recipients.
“We had to use other means to show our talents,” Howard told AP. ” I’m playing for (Michigan coach) Gary Moeller in Bo Schembechler’s (former coach) attack. We are not proposing the ball to the air. You have to shine in other ways. ”
After Howard won, recipients were rarely more than marginal Heisman competitors.
Randy Moss of Marshall finished fourth in the 1997 Heisman vote and Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh was second behind Jason White of Oklahoma in 2003. None of the future big names in the NFL needed more than their receiving statistics to gain consideration for Heisman.
As defenders accumulated Heisman’s victories in the 2000s, recognition for the guys who took all those passes started to increase.
Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree finished fifth in the 2008 Heisman vote and Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon did the same in 2010. Marquise Lee of Southern California finished fourth in 2012.
The next recipient to be a finalist was Alabama’s Amari Cooper in 2014, 11 years after Fitzgerald did that. Cooper finished third. Oklahoma’s Dede Westbrook was the fourth finalist in 2016.
The steady increase in confidence in the pass has helped recipients to gain recognition, but it comes with a catch – so to speak.
“What could work against them is that the guy who is throwing the ball usually gets more credit than the guy who is catching the ball,” said Howard.
There was little or no buzz about Heisman around Smith this year until late October, when another Alabama star, Jaylen Waddle, was the victim of a leg injury.
While Jones was putting large numbers of passes into the potent attack of the Crimson Tide, Smith was the player who stood out the most. And he didn’t need gadget moves and special team highlights to do that.
Smith returned a punt for a touchdown at the end of the season against Arkansas and he had a 14-yard TD executed in one of his four rushes. But he is Heisman’s favorite because he stands out in his main role and can simply start a trend considering the direction in which the game is moving.
“I think having these types of guys with skills that can score points is something you certainly want to try,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, “and I see more and more teams trying to do that. ”
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/
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