Alabama WR DeVonta Smith Is the Perfect Candidate to End the QB Heisman Reign

It's time. Time to break free from our unrelenting fixation with quarterbacks. Time to modernize the way we view and vote on one of the most coveted awards in sports. Time to finally recognize that one position cannot and will not shape the way we attribute maximum greatness in college football. 

It's time to give the best football player in the country the Heisman. And in 2020, a season unlike any other in the game's history, that football player has been Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

Yes, wide receiver. Not a quarterback. Not a running back. But a player who touches the football far less than the positions that have dominated the Heisman over time.

Smith isn't just a wide receiver. He's the best wide receiver in the country and the best to ever play at Alabama. He's also the primary reason Nick Saban's team is undefeated and the No. 1 seed in college football heading into the College Football Playoff. 

It starts with the numbers. All good Heisman discussions start here, no matter the position or the case to be made.  

Smith leads the nation in catches (98) and receiving yards (1,511). His 17 receiving touchdowns are second in the nation. He has also tallied one rushing touchdown and a punt-return touchdown.

In the context of Heisman voting, his season culminated in the SEC Championship Game with a record-setting performance against Florida. Smith finished with 15 catches, 184 yards and two touchdowns. 

It was the fourth time this year Smith finished with double-digit catches and the sixth time he finished with multiple touchdowns. While his 15 catches were a single-game record at Alabama, this was the kind of stat line we grew to expect as the season progressed.

Although he's only returned eight punts this season, Smith has made the most of them. His eight attempts resulted in one TD and 199 yards—an average of more than 24 yards per attempt.

The numbers certainly validate his greatness. But it's how these numbers and performances impacted Alabama that should be celebrated. Specifically, it's the way Smith absorbed the loss of Jaylen Waddle, another Crimson Tide star wide receiver, who was lost early in the season due to injury. 

It was assumed without Waddle the Alabama offense would struggle to find its footing. Thanks largely to Smith, the unit seemed to grow more powerful as the season progressed. 

In the Crimson Tide's last six games, Smith scored 14 touchdowns and averaged nearly 160 receiving yards. 

Michael Woods/Associated Press

Alabama head coach Nick Saban is not one to offer up hyperbole or overwhelming praise when talking about current and former players. But when asked about Smith a few weeks ago, he provided rare context on just where Smith sits among some of the players that have come through the program.

"He's probably done as much this year for our team as any player that we've ever had," Saban said of his wide receiver in the postgame press conference. "He's a great leader on the team. It's not fair to compare him to somebody else that you didn't even see, but I don't think there's many players in the country that have done more for their team than Smitty does for our team." 

If Smith is to win the Heisman, he will do something no wide receiver has done since 1991. Michigan's Desmond Howard is the last wideout to win the award. 

The last non-quarterback or running back to win the award? Michigan defensive back and special teams whiz Charles Woodson. Woodson won the Heisman in 1997—a year before Smith was born.

It has been that long, and the sport has only drifted further away from celebrating greatness at other positions.

Since 2000, the Heisman has been awarded to 17 quarterbacks and three running backs. A few players and positions outside of these two earned visits to New York City as finalists. But for the most part—and especially of late—this has evolved into a yearly parade of quarterbacks. 

It's possible that this trend will continue. Smith's primary competition for the award is indeed QBs. 

His teammate, Mac Jones, will receive plenty of consideration after a tremendous year that culminated in a 418-yard, five-touchdown performance in the SEC Championship Game. Florida QB Kyle Trask, who had 408 passing yards and accounted for four touchdowns in the same game, will also likely be a popular selection after a fabulous statistical year.  

Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, despite missing multiple games after a positive COVID-19 test, will certainly be on plenty of ballots after an excellent performance in the ACC Championship Game. As he should.

All three were brilliant this season. As was running back Najee Harris, another one of Smith's teammates, who scored five touchdowns and totaled more than 200 yards against the Gators. His 27 touchdowns could and should propel him into the conversation. It seems possible, and perhaps likely, that Alabama will have three players finish in the top five of Heisman voting. 

Matthew Hinton/Associated Press

There is no "bad" choice here. The players mentioned above all feel somewhat Heisman-worthy in their own way. Unlike many years, where a favorite is identified and somewhat predetermined by Thanksgiving, 2020 has been different.  

But Smith's season was constantly dominant in a way that should be celebrated differently. For a player listed at only 6'1" and 175 pounds, Smith has often turned the football field into his own personal game of Madden—a player whose brilliance is more technical than physical. 

Size has never come into question. The route running and the silky hands have simply overtaken most anything in his path.      

The impact on Alabama's season and opposing defenses has enhanced what Jones and Harris have been able to accomplish. And while all three have delivered utterly spectacular seasons, Smith's greatness, on a roster chock-full of it, has constantly stood out.

This is what a Heisman-caliber player and season looks like. This is greatness in college football in peak form—a player whose grandeur grew first out of necessity and only blossomed as the season progressed. This is the best player in football on the best team in football delivering relentlessly week over week, no matter the competition. 

For those who have hoped that one day the Heisman would reverse course and celebrate greatness outside of two positions, this is an opportunity. This is a chance, finally, for so many players and positions to feel like they have a legitimate path to win the award.  

That's not solely why Smith should win. He's simply the perfect player at the perfect time capable of bringing change. 

More specifically, he is the best player in college football this season. And if that truly is what the Heisman is all about, he should be recognized for it.   

It's time.