Why I Voted Alabama's Bryce Young Atop My Heisman Ballot

COMMENTARY

As an odd and tumultuous college football season entered its final stages of 2021, I wondered why no one had emerged as a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

Then the calendar turned to November, and like a cold wind or the turning of the leaves, strong candidates subtly blew in — and flourished.

On Saturday night at the annual Heisman ceremony in New York, Alabama's Bryce Young was announced as the year's winner. He dominated the voting, with 684 first-place votes, and finished with 2,311 points. He's the Crimson Tide's first QB to win the most prestigious award in American sport. Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (78 first-place votes, 954 points) was the runner-up, and Pittsburgh QB Kenny Pickett (28, 631) was third. The other finalist was Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud (12, 399).

My ballot ultimately became unexpectedly easy for me: First, Bryce Young, Alabama. Second, C.J. Stroud, Ohio State. Third, Kenneth Walker, Michigan State. Two quarterbacks and a running back — I know, I know. The Heisman has become another quarterback award, and yes, I’m part of the problem.

I considered about a half-dozen other worthy candidates, including — a rarity for me, I admit — a handful on defense. My top defensive contenders were Hutchinson, the outstanding defensive end from Michigan, Jordan Davis, the mammoth, game-wrecking defensive tackle from Georgia, and Will Anderson, the unblockable linebacker from Alabama.

Anderson leads the nation with an otherworldly 32.5 tackles for loss and finished fifth in this year's voting. Hutchinson ranks third nationally with 14 quarterback sacks, along with 12 QB hurries. Davis, winner of the the Outland Trophy and the Bednarik Award, plays inside and doesn't have big stats (3.5 TFLs, 2.0 sacks), but requires double-team blocks and constant attention.

I was glad to see one of them (Hutchinson) make it to New York as a finalist, though I was hoping all three could make the trip.

Offensively, big numbers don’t impress me much any more when it comes to the Heisman. Does the winner need them? Sure, because it reflects just how outstanding the “most outstanding” player in the country can be over college football's fabulous four months.

What ultimately sways me each year, though, goes just a little beyond the numbers.

I place extra value on a player’s week-to-week consistency over an entire season. Did you put up your big numbers in four or five games? Or did you do it to everyone all year?

That’s one thing that drew me to Pickett, the prolific Pittsburgh quarterback. He was over 200 yards passing in every game, and failed to surpass 250 just twice. That’s startling consistency. He was productive week in and week out, and that's why he was one of this year's four finalists.

However, I also place more weight on how players performed in the biggest games, or against the toughest opponents — who you did your best work against.

That’s where Pickett fell off my ballot. He had a phenomenal year. He’ll make a nice pro. But digging deeper into his raw statistics, Pickett faced a schedule that included five defenses ranked 100th or lower in FBS passing yards allowed. He also did major damage to New Hampshire, a 3-8 team that ranks 114th in passing yards allowed — in the FCS. The two highest-ranked pass defenses Pickett faced were 7-5 Western Michigan (No. 18) and 5-7 Syracuse (No. 29).

When I began fully evaluating my top candidates, Pickett was atop the list. But when I cast my final ballot, Pickett wasn’t on it.

I’m not picking on Pickett (again, I think he’s terrific), just illustrating how I evaluate players into and out of my final ballot.

Ultimately, some early prejudices I thought I had against Young and Stroud were alleviated as the season wound down.

Walker, who finished sixth in this season's vote, was my frontrunner for much of the season thanks to his consistently high productivity. Walker ranks second nationally at 136 rushing yards per game and scored 18 touchdowns.

In his first six games, he had games of 264, 172, 126 and 233. His performance in the Spartans’ 37-33 win over No. 2-ranked Michigan — 23 carries, 197 yards, five touchdowns — all but cemented him atop my ballot. (He followed that up with games of 146, 143 and 138 — most against some stout run defenses.)

But that Michigan game happened in late October. The Heisman goes out in December. That’s a lot of football in between.

And that’s when Stroud and Young climbed over Walker on my ballot.

Stroud wasn’t outstanding early, with a 13-of-22 performance in the opener at Minnesota, followed by an occasionally rocky showing in the Buckeyes’ home loss to Oregon. Stroud almost took himself out of the conversation with a season-low 185 yards against Tulsa — also his third straight game with an interception.

But Stroud soon grew into the role of the Buckeyes’ next star QB. He didn’t throw a pick in seven of Ohio State’s last eight games, and finished that stretch with 30 TDs against just two INTs. He cooked Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana with 14 total TD passes, had 305 yards against Penn State, and hung 405 yards on Nebraska. He then completed 83 percent of his passes and threw 11 TDs with zero INTs against upset specialist Purdue and red-hot Michigan State in back-to-back weeks. And his performance against Michigan’s buzz saw defense — 34-of-49 (69 percent), 394 yards, two TDs, no picks in a loss — didn’t hurt his candidacy.

Stroud faced just two pass defenses ranked lower than 100, while also facing two in the top 10, and the Buckeyes did not have an FCS team on the schedule.

Young, meanwhile, also overcame a bumpy September-October stretch where he threw interceptions in three straight games and completed just 58 percent of his passes in a loss to Texas A&M. I was not convinced his future would be blindingly bright.

Young’s November-December finish, on the other hand, was absolutely special: 302 yards and two TDs against LSU, 21-of-23 with five TDs in limited action against New Mexico State, school-record 559 yards and five TDs against Arkansas, 317 yards and two TDs (and a ridiculous 97-yard game-tying drive at the end) in the Iron Bowl against Auburn, and 421 yards and four total TDs in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia — arguably college football’s best defense in a generation.

Young faced just three pass defenses ranked 100th or lower, and even the Tide’s FCS opponent, Mercer, ranks 12th nationally among FCS programs. He also faced five pass defenses ranked 45th or better.

If Young hadn't been so outstanding in the final month, I'm certain I'd have voted for Stroud.

But in the span of about two months, Young went from a great young prospect with tantalizing potential to college football’s most outstanding player.

For me, it was an easy choice — even when I didn’t think it would be.