Malik Hooker leaping interception vs. Nebraska
Ohio State safety Malik Hooker made impressive plays like this interception against Nebraska, but defensive players still are mostly ignored in Heisman Trophy voting.
(Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Could you imagine Malik Hooker in New York this weekend?
He'd be the Heisman Trophy candidate from Ohio State's defense, right?
"It's Malik, obviously," cornerback Gareon Conley said. "No questions asked."
But you can't really imagine it. Not the way people currently view college football.
The best players from the two showcase programs in college football played defense this season, and when that happens, voters don't know what to do. Neither J.T. Barrett nor Curtis Samuel was really Ohio State's best Heisman hope - it would have taken voters opening their eyes to the best part of the Buckeyes. The same thing holds true at Alabama.
We've advanced from 25 years ago, when monster passing numbers in new high-flying offenses led to some Heisman confusion. This season, Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes threw for 5,052 yards, more than 700 more than anyone else, and he's not in New York.
But 110 years after the invention of the forward pass, we can't discern that one side of the ball is as important as the other. We still don't know how to reward defense, even while spouting old cliches about how it wins games.
Of the five Heisman Trophy finalists, only one, Clemson quarterback and 2015 third-place Heisman finisher Deshaun Watson, will take part in the College Football Playoff.
Why? Because Alabama and Ohio State are defense-first teams, but none of their defenders play offense. The other problem? Their defenses, ranked first and third in points per game and first and fourth in yards per game, have too many good players.
But if you kept the skill and the stats of Alabama defensive lineman Johnathan Allen or linebacker Reuben Foster, or Ohio State's Hooker, a safety, or linebacker Raekwon McMillan, and put them on offense, they might all be in New York.
"It takes a special defensive player to be up for the Heisman," said McMillan, who offered unprompted congratulations to Michigan linebacker and Heisman finalist Jabrill Peppers. "Offensive players have the better chance to be up for the Heisman because they can put up numbers and they've got the ball in their hands."
The other finalists are Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has huge stats but lost his last two games to Houston and Kentucky; Michigan's Peppers, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who's only a finalist because he also served as a return man and offensive wrinkle; and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Dede Westbrook.
Mayfield and Westbrook are fine players, and you feel good for any of these players who work hard and get rewarded.
But when Oklahoma and Ohio Stated played in the third game of the season, the Sooners didn't win, the Buckeyes did. The Sooners' offense wasn't better, the Buckeyes' defense was. Guys likes Mayfield and Westbrook weren't the best players on the field, guys like Hooker and McMillan were.
Yet the only defender in New York is Peppers, and he's there for his versatility, not his straight-up defensive excellence. Michigan's Charles Woodson won the 1997 Heisman the same way - by being a tremendous defensive player who also did other things on special teams and offense. He's the only modern era defender with a Heisman because he added bells and whistles. We (and I include myself as a Heisman voter) are too dumb to respond to anything else.
The players know it.
"I feel like it's all the media and all show, about how many touches and how many times you can score, " said Conley, an All-Big Ten defender and potential first-round NFL Draft pick. "I feel like it's all offense.
"I just feel like football is an offensive game and people like to see people score touchdowns and that builds more hype, and that's what fans want to see. So I feel like offenses are more leaning toward the Heisman."
This isn't a revelation. It's an old complaint really, but I'm an old man who likes to complain. I'd like voters to ask more of themselves, though. I'm going to ask more of myself.
If you reveal your vote before Saturday's ceremony, the Heisman people come to your house and remove your toenails with pliers, so I'll speak generally here.
I voted for a straight-up defensive player in my Heisman top three, but not at the top of my ballot. I thought my choice was difficult this year, even though Louisivlle's Jackson spent much of the season as a heavy favorite. But I like the idea of the Heisman as an MVP award to some extent, as a nod to a great player who made a great difference on a great team.
In 2012, I voted for Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o ahead of winner Johnny Manziel because that defense pushed the Fighting Irish into the national title game and Te'o was its clear leader. This year, I pondered defensive options from playoff teams, but in the end, probably didn't consider them as much as I should have.
From now on, I'll make sure I do that.
"There's so many ways to affect the game. I think we have a couple on our defense," defensive end Sam Hubbard said of Heisman-worthy players. "The way Malik has changed games and the way Raekwon anchors our defense, without them we wouldn't be able to win games. You've got great players everywhere, like the Allen kid from Alabama. I don't know how voting works, but I'd love to see more defense."
It's not that Jackson, the player who almost certainly will win on Saturday, doesn't deserve it. Watch that guy for a quarter and he'll prove that he's a rare talent. It's that if players Hooker and Allen, who will be be consensus first-team All-Americans, played offense, they'd almost certainly be in New York, too.
They're that good. They deserve voters who live up to their level of play.
Defensive players who finished in the top five of Heisman balloting the last five years
2012 - Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, 2nd
2011 - Tyrann Mathieu, LSU, 5th
2009 - Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 4th
1997 - Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1st (also played offense and special teams)
1991 - Steve Emtman, Washington, 4th
1986 - Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma, 4th
1983 - Terry Hoage, Georgia, 5th
1980 - Hugh Green, Pittsburgh, 2nd
1977 - Ross Browner, Notre Dame, 5th