DeVonta Smith won the 2020 Heisman Trophy. Here’s why Pete Fiutak voted for Kyle Trask, along with explaining the rest of his ballot.
Why My Heisman Vote Went To Kyle Trask …
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Look, I’m the We Need To Vote AFTER The Bowls guy, so remember, we submitted our ballots before the bowl season happened.
All my Heisman votes since I’ve been doing this are at the bottom. This one was the hardest yet.
PLEASE, remember … the Heisman isn’t predictive. Again, it’s done BEFORE the bowls. BEFORE …
My ballot? 1) Kyle Trask, 2) Najee Harris, 3) Mac Jones.
Yeah, I voted for Kyle Trask. In 11 games – the time frame we had to go on to vote – he threw 43 touchdown passes and 4,125 yards with just five picks against all SEC teams. No, he wasn’t Joe Burrow, but Burrow after 11 games? 41 touchdown passes and 4,014 yards and six interceptions.
Yeah, I voted for the guy who was on a 2019 Joe Burrow pace, the best running back in college football who scored 27 touchdowns, and a guy who had the most efficient passing season in the history of college football. It wasn’t THAT wacky.
Trask was coming off the amazing performance against Alabama in the SEC Championship, and while he threw a bad pick against LSU, he more than made up for it with 474 yards – it wasn’t his fault the D was awful.
There’s no arguing against DeVonta Smith. He’s a wonderful player who had an all-timer of a year, stepping up his play as the season went on and especially after Jaylen Waddle went down. If we could vote after the bowls – you know, the biggest games of the season – I’d have changed my ballot. Seven catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns in one of the two most important games of the season … yeah, of course.
If we could vote right now before the national championship I would still be a bit torn with Smith, Harris or Mac Jones at 1/2/3 in some way, and because that one performance mattered SO much, Justin Fields would be on the radar depending on the national championship.
It’s my ongoing argument – bowl games matter here. Trask was great, but even though it wasn’t his fault with all the missing pieces, that Oklahoma game mattered.
Trevor Lawrence missed the first Notre Dame game. It’s totally not fair and totally not his fault, but we’re splitting hairs here with five guys – at least for me, it was Lawrence, Smith, Jones, Harris and Trask – for three spots and two guys had to be left off the list.
Trevor Lawrence is the most talented player in college football and an all-time NFL franchise quarterback prospect, but again two guys had to be left off. Missing the biggest pre-championship game of the regular season mattered here, and the numbers just weren’t as strong as the other quarterbacks.
Okay, Devonta … I wrote his name in, then out, then in, then out, then left him out. At the end of the day, yeah, quarterbacks are more important than wide receivers. Sorry, but they just are – you see Davante Adams getting MVP votes over Aaron Rodgers? Again, after the bowls he’d get the vote, but at the time ….
Okay … Kyle Trask. First, the guy was on a pace to beat Joe Burrow’s touchdown and yardage mark up until the bowl debacle. Considering Burrow came up with the be-all-end-all Heisman season, that never got as much respect as it deserved.
Remember how amazing he was in the SEC Championship. It got totally memory dumped by everyone, but this supposedly unbeatable Alabama team got pushed to the brink in that 52-46 game when Trask threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns with a rushing score.
And, again, we vote BEFORE the bowls, and for me, I always wait until right after the conference championship games are over.
Mac Jones was too good, too efficient, and too under-appreciated. No I don’t think he’s a better talent than Trevor Lawrence, but he had a better season. Again, to split hairs, I had to put in the guy who had the most efficient passing season in college football history in my top three.
Najee Harris was the best running back in football. There are plenty of amazing receivers. Not diminishing DeVonta in ANY way, but the massive receiving seasons are becoming a bit of the norm. Elijah Smith of Ole Miss actually averaged more yards and catches per game than DeVonta.
All year long I thought Harris was as much of the glue to what that the Bama offense did than anyone else. Obviously Smith-to-DeVonta was devastating, but Harris was massive game in and game out. The guy was the ultimate closer with 24 rushing scores, five touchdowns in the SEC Championship, and enough catches to matter.
Harris was my 1. I had even more of an argument to make for his cause, but after that SEC Championship, I thought that if I’m having a hard time deciding between three guys on one team, that probably means something. Not like Trask didn’t have a ton talent to work with, but again, he almost pulled out an SEC Championship with an amazing performance in a giant game. Add that to the raw numbers, and …
Rip on my vote all you want. Kyle Trask was pretty good. So were Najee Harris, Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence and DeVonta Smith.
My all-time Heisman votes …
2020 QB Kyle Trask, Florida (DeVonta Smith won)
2019 QB Joe Burrow, LSU
2018 QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
2017 QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
2016 QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson (Lamar Jackson won)
2015 RB Derrick Henry, Alabama
2014 QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
2013 QB Jameis Winston, Florida State
2012 LB Manti Te’o, Notre Dame (Johnny Manziel won)
2011 QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor
2010 QB Cam Newton, Auburn
2009 DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska (Mark Ingram won)
2008 QB Tim Tebow, Florida (Sam Bradford won)
2007 QB Tim Tebow, Florida
2006 QB Troy Smith, Ohio State
2005 RB Reggie Bush, USC
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