How Alabama's Amari Cooper Can Still Win the Heisman Trophy

A wide receiver legitimately contending for the Heisman Trophy seems more like fiction than reality, but if there's any receiver who deserves to be in that conversation this year, it's Alabama junior Amari Cooper.

The 6'1", 210-pound junior from Miami has 90 catches for 1,349 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, with 46 of those yards coming on three catches in the 48-14 tune-up win over Western Carolina on Saturday. His 3,085 career receiving yards are an Alabama record, and those three catches bring him to 194 for his career—tied with D.J. Hall for the most in program history.

He left the game Saturday with a bruised knee, but head coach Nick Saban said that his absence was just a precaution.

"Coop just has a bruised knee," Saban said in quotes emailed by Alabama. "He could’ve gone back in the game and played—we don’t have a problem with him."

Jonathan Bachman/Associated Press

That's good, because standing in the way of Alabama and the SEC West title is an Auburn team with a pass defense that would struggle to cover an average junior high squad. That game will have the eyeballs of the nation on it, as ESPN's College GameDay will be in Tuscaloosa when the Tide look to avenge last season's heartbreaking loss on the "Kick Six."

Cooper is already receiving a considerable amount of Heisman love. He was out of the Bleacher Report top five this week, but he has bounced in and out throughout the season. In Athlon Sports' weekly survey, Cooper came in at the No. 3 spot following Week 12 and will surely be in the discussion this week.

What needs to happen for Cooper to get to New York?

If he can exploit the holes in the Auburn secondary in the Iron Bowl with the world watching, it will set him up for a late-season charge that could land him in New York City as a Heisman finalist, just as former Auburn running back Tre Mason did down the stretch last season.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

This is an Auburn pass defense that's giving up 232.5 yards per game through the air and has given up 280.2 per game over its last five SEC contests. It's ripe for the picking, and a big performance from Cooper—who has 997 of his receiving yards in the first halves of games—could put Auburn away early and earn the receiver a ticket to the Big Apple.

From there, a strong performance against either Missouri or Georgia in the SEC Championship Game might earn him some late first-place votes. It would be even better for Cooper's Heisman case if it's the Bulldogs in the Georgia Dome.

Very quietly, Georgia has produced the SEC's second-best pass defense (167.0 YPG)—only three yards behind first-place LSU. That's a remarkable turnaround from last year's squad, which gave up 227.4 yards per game through the air and was more of a punchline than a pass defense power. On top of that, a showdown with Georgia—which chimed in at the No. 8 spot this week in the AP poll—would certainly resonate more across the country than a matchup with No. 17 Missouri.

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Cooper has already made his case to be the "MVP" of college football this season. Nobody expected Blake Sims to be the starting quarterback in Lane Kiffin's first season as offensive coordinator. Cooper's ability to provide security for Sims and Kiffin early is a big reason the Tide offense has evolved into a multidimensional force.

He's going to need help to win the Heisman, though. 

Only two non-quarterbacks have won it since 2000, Reggie Bush in 2005 and Mark Ingram in 2009, and Bush returned his after the NCAA came calling.

For Cooper to have a chance, Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota—the clear front-runner—needs to lose one of his final two games either at Oregon State or against the Pac-12 South champ in the conference title game. More specifically, the Ducks need to lose because of uncharacteristic mistakes from Mariota himself.

That'd clear the quarterback front-runner out of the way and open the field to contenders like Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon, TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty and others. 

Gordon has done tremendous work—especially lately—but a star wide receiver putting his team on his back in the two biggest games of the year to solidify a playoff spot would be hard for voters to ignore.

Cooper is on the periphery now, and if Mariota stumbles, he's in the perfect spot with the perfect stages to kick down the Heisman door.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.