Joe Burrow of LSU is unquestionably the best football player in the United States for 2019. Even Ohio State fans — who once harbored thoughts that Burrow would be their quarterback — can appreciate and recognize as much. However, it is a shame and an outrage that Jonathan Taylor of the Wisconsin Badgers will not be a finalist on the big stage at the Heisman Trophy Award ceremony on Saturday night at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York.
Outrage, some people might ask? Isn’t that a little too much? You mad, bro? Well, you tell me if a man who rushed for over 1,900 yards and accounted for over 2,100 yards from scrimmage should be excluded from the Heisman ceremony. Do you think that’s fair? Do you think that sends a good message? Do you think that honors his season and how much he gave to the Badgers this year? What would Wisconsin be without him?
Christian McCaffrey of Stanford rushed for just over 2,000 yards in 2015, roughly 100 more than Taylor… and finished second in the Heisman voting. Sure, all seasons are relative to the competition involved, but the idea that Taylor doesn’t even get an invitation to New York while McCaffrey was second four years ago with numbers which were not astronomically better strikes me as weird… and very inconsistent.
Remember: We’re not talking about whether Jonathan Taylor should have WON the Heisman. No, he shouldn’t. That point is not being litigated here. It is the matter of Taylor not getting national publicity and recognition on Heisman night, which his 2019 season and his career fully deserve.
Jonathan Taylor — this season and in his career — clearly deserved better. It is hard to recall another player who had three college seasons as great as Taylor’s, and somehow didn’t make the Heisman ceremony as a finalist in any of those three seasons.
We will have more to say on how the Heisman ceremony and invitation process should be reformed at Badgers Wire. Let’s simply say this much for now: Jonathan Taylor is a foremost casualty of the Heisman Trust’s current — and very inadequate — process.