Even the trophy itself portrays an offensive back throwing out a stiff arm to ward off defenders, however, there is no rule in place that says that the Heisman Trophy cannot be awarded to a defensive player.
Just a few years ago, no one had given much thought to having a defensive player winning the Heisman Trophy. But, then again, no one had ever heard of a sophomore being considered before Tim Tebow. Of course, a freshman could never win the Heisman but then, along came Johnny Football and took the sporting world by storm.
So, could a defensive player actually win the Heisman Trophy? Just ask Bradley Roby who is an All Big Ten cornerback for Ohio State. He’s got his sights set on it.
“I believe that I can win it,” Bradley told reporters. He is not the first with that lofty ambition. In 2009 Ndamukong Suh came in fourth in the Heisman competition. Tyrann Mathieu of LSU was 5th in 2011 and Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o got all the way up to second losing only to Johnny Manziel.
There remains the fact that 13 of the last 16 Heisman Trophy’s have gone to players from schools that have already won national championships.
Quarterbacks have dominated the Heisman competition since the turn of the century the only exception being the Mark Ingram in 2009. Believe it or not, Ingram is the only player ever to win the Heisman Trophy form the University of Alabama.
In the hunt for next year along with Bradley Roby are Alabama’s All-American linebacker C.J. Moseley and Jadeveon Clowney of South Carolina. BYU’s linebacker Kyle Van Noy is already considered a national defensive player of the year candidate and could also stand up for the Heisman.
So, the atmosphere has never been better for a defensive player to take the trophy next year. There is no real standout favorite offensive player going into the season and the odds are that Manziel will not repeat but… you never know.
The “Heisman Pundit” himself, Chris Huston wrote, “This is probably the best setup a defensive player has had in a long time. It comes on the heels of a defensive player finishing second. I still think defensive players are at such a disadvantage in terms of statistics and impact on the game.”
