Devonta Smith Was the Right Choice for the Heisman Trophy

I have wanted to write about Devonta Smith winning the Heisman since last week, but then all the madness happened. I'm still angry, upset, unnerved and scared by what happened. Those monsters that incited, and took place in those riots need to be arrested and removed from office. But, with the CFP title game on tonight, what better time than now to finally give my thoughts on Smith winning the Heisman. Oh, and he also won the AP Player of the Year award too.

I have to admit, I was rooting for Smith to win. I am not an Alabama fan by any means. In fact, I do not like any of the four teams that played in the playoff, and I may only watch the title game for a bit tonight because I truly couldn't care less who wins. But of the four guys, and in a season marred by COVID and other random injuries, I figured why not give it to someone other than a running back or QB.

We see the RBs and QBs win all the time. I think there have been very few instances where a non running back or QB has won the Heisman, and that is BS to me. In fact, the last non RB or QB to win was Charles Woodson in 1997, the GOAT by the way. Some names that have won it since then, Eric Crouch, Jason White, Troy Smith, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Jameis Winston, Johnny Manziel and Marcus Mariota. Some guys that were up for it in those seasons, Manti Teo, Rocket Ismail, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald and Amari Cooper. I'd take the guys that did not win it over the others if we just look at career success. But when I dug a little further into this season, when I looked at the finalists and decided to watch each one play, it was clear that Smith was the best, and most deserving player. Kyle Trask had a fine season for Florida, but without Kyle Pitts he was a mess, and he looked real bad in their bowl game. Mac Jones is an okay QB, but he is a system guy. He didn't change the position like Tua did when he was at Alabama. Jones is a lot like Jalen Hurts was when he was at Alabama, just not as athletic. He ran the system. He got the ball to Smith, and then Smith did great things with it. And Trevor Lawrence, he did not deserve to win just because of his career. This is a season award, not a college career award. He also missed two games because he got COVID. The people stumping for Lawrence are the same that claimed Peyton Manning deserved the award when Charles Woodson won it because Manning had a "better college career" than Woodson. I don't see any championship rings on Manning's fingers. I saw one on Woodson's. The only season Lawrence could have won it, in my opinion, would have been for his freshman season.

When I watched Smith I came away most impressed. The separation he was able to get, the speed in the open field, it was unmatched. When Jaylen Waddle went down early in the year a lot of people thought Bama's offense would slide. They got better, and that was because of Smith. Sure it helps to have Najee Harris in the backfield, but the way Smith took over a secondary, made the defense have to constantly game plan for him, it helped Alabama stay great on offense. He was the unsolvable problem for opposing defenses. He was the one that opened things up for Harris and Jones and the rest of that offense. But that wasn't the only thing he did. Smith put up gaudy numbers this year. In 12 games, not counting tonight obviously, he had 105 catches, 1,641 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns. He averaged 15.6 yards a catch. He averaged almost 9 catches a game and 136 receiving yards a game. In the semifinal game he had 7 catches, 130 yards and 3 TD's. In the SEC title game he had 15 catches, 184 yards and 2 scores. Against LSU he had 8 catches, 231 yards and 3 scores. He averaged 28.9 yards a catch in that game. And against their biggest rival, Auburn, he had 7 catches, 171 yards and 2 scores. The kid put up video game numbers. It is unreal. I would have been happy if a Michigan receiver did anything close to half of what Smith was able to accomplish. And when you compare his stats to the other finalists, it isn't even really close. Trask threw for 4,200 plus yards and 43 TD's, but struggled against top flight teams, especially Alabama and Oklahoma. Mac Jones just barely threw for 4,000 yards, had 36 TD passes, but almost half of that wouldn't have been possible without Smith. And Trevor Lawrence only threw for 3,100 plus yards, 24 TD's and missed those 2 games. He also did not look great in their last game.

Devonta Smith was, far and away, the best player in college football this year. He more than deserved this award. It is kind of crazy he is the first wideout since Desmond Howard to win the award. I assume he will have a good game tonight, but we will see. He is going up against a solid secondary, but every other secondary, good and bad, he has faced, he has torched. Congrats to Devonta Smith, a much deserved Heisman win for a non QB or running back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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