2016 Heisman Race
Midseason report
Brett Ciancia | October 19th, 2016
1. Jake Browning, Washington qb
Most of the attention that undefeated Washington is receiving revolves around their “Death Row” Defense, and rightfully so. But just as important in UW’s rise from middle-of-the-pack to Playoff contender, is the play of sophomore QB Jake Browning. While he may not have the rushing stats as Lamar Jackson, he makes up for it with nation-leading passing skills. Browning has the #1 TD-INT ratio in America with his 23-2 clip, the #1 pass completion percentage (72.2%), and the #2 yards per attempt (9.8). I especially put more weight on these efficiency stats with Browning, because in several games this season, Washington’s lead was so big that the starters were benched in the 2nd half. His 44-6 rout of then-#6 Stanford, and his 8 touchdown performance vs. Oregon in back-to-back games have catapulted him to the top of my Heisman standings here at the midpoint.
America – learn from your mistakes last year with McCaffrey, and stop ignoring the West Coast!
America – learn from your mistakes last year with McCaffrey, and stop ignoring the West Coast!
2. Lamar Jackson, Louisville QB
The comparisons to Mike Vick are accurate, as Jackson has pieced together an amazing highlight reel already in just 6 games. His 15 passing touchdowns are complemented by an insane 15 rushing touchdowns – more than 91 entire FBS teams! He played a very strong game, but did lose to fellow Heisman candidate Deshaun Watson, and I wonder now if that will hurt Jackson’s candidacy going forward. Louisville is boxed out by Clemson in the Atlantic, needing multiple upsets to have a shot at the ACC title, and unless those occur I question whether Jackson will have the “Heisman stage” anymore this season. He looked pedestrian against Duke, and only one ranked opponent remains in non-AQ Houston.
3. Deshaun Watson, Clemson QB
The #3 spot came down to Watson and Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett, who both have shown glimpses of brilliance, are leading top 3 teams, and have the national namesake already. However, neither are meeting their high ceilings of performance that they demonstrated in past seasons (JT in 2014, Deshaun in 2015). I think in Watson’s case, it is our own extremely high expectations we set forth for him and this Clemson offense, that even his high performance this year seems like they are “struggling.” While he lacks the rushing stats of 2015, his passing is about on par with last season, and with RB Wayne Gallman’s status unknown going forward, I expect much more responsibility (and production) from Watson.
Where is Jabrill peppers?
The do-it-all Peppers seems to be a trendy Heisman darkhorse pick, but I am not buying it at this point. He is primarily a defender, an OLB/DB hybrid, that also returns punts and occasionally gets some carries on offense. Is he a special athlete? Yes. Is it unique in today’s game that a player can be so versatile in different facets of the game? Yes.
You know who else did this? Chris Gamble, 2002 Ohio State. And while I was extremely impressed with the versatility and endurance, I never once thought “Heisman” for those traits alone.
For a defender to draw my Heisman attention, he needs to own the field. You need to feel his presence every play, and every game be able to take a step back and say, player X was by far the most dominant player on the field today. I simply haven’t gotten that feel from Peppers yet.
So then the counter from Peppers backers is “yeah, but look at his production!”
It is a shame that the Heisman Trophy has become so offense-centered, but the fact of the matter remains that if a defender wants to win this award, he not only gets compared to players in the current season, but star defenders in past seasons. The most recent defender that I felt should have won the award was Ndamukong Suh in 2009. Suh was by far the most dominant player on the field, every game he suited up for, and there were no questions about it. I can’t say the same for Peppers yet, as I view him as a multi-purpose cog in an extremely talented defense. As far as stats go, you would think by the way Peppers is hyped that he is a scoring machine, or tackling machine, or must be super disruptive in the pass game with sacks and/or interceptions. Suh, a defensive tackle, had twice as many INTERCEPTIONS (4) than Peppers (2), more tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, blocked kicks (based on Peppers projected stats at the halfway point). Even the touchdowns category is close, as Suh had 3, and “offensive weapon” Peppers has just 5.
The dominating presence is lacking, the stats (and projected stats) are nowhere near Suh, and until he has some game-winning, impact plays, I think Suh has it all over Peppers. And big Suh only finished 4th.
You know who else did this? Chris Gamble, 2002 Ohio State. And while I was extremely impressed with the versatility and endurance, I never once thought “Heisman” for those traits alone.
For a defender to draw my Heisman attention, he needs to own the field. You need to feel his presence every play, and every game be able to take a step back and say, player X was by far the most dominant player on the field today. I simply haven’t gotten that feel from Peppers yet.
So then the counter from Peppers backers is “yeah, but look at his production!”
It is a shame that the Heisman Trophy has become so offense-centered, but the fact of the matter remains that if a defender wants to win this award, he not only gets compared to players in the current season, but star defenders in past seasons. The most recent defender that I felt should have won the award was Ndamukong Suh in 2009. Suh was by far the most dominant player on the field, every game he suited up for, and there were no questions about it. I can’t say the same for Peppers yet, as I view him as a multi-purpose cog in an extremely talented defense. As far as stats go, you would think by the way Peppers is hyped that he is a scoring machine, or tackling machine, or must be super disruptive in the pass game with sacks and/or interceptions. Suh, a defensive tackle, had twice as many INTERCEPTIONS (4) than Peppers (2), more tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, blocked kicks (based on Peppers projected stats at the halfway point). Even the touchdowns category is close, as Suh had 3, and “offensive weapon” Peppers has just 5.
The dominating presence is lacking, the stats (and projected stats) are nowhere near Suh, and until he has some game-winning, impact plays, I think Suh has it all over Peppers. And big Suh only finished 4th.
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