Alabama Football: 2019 Heisman thoughts at mid-season

Depending on the source, Alabama football quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa may or not be the front-runner for the 2019 Heisman Trophy.

Alabama football quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa was the runner-up for last season’s Heisman Trophy. The winner, Kyler Murray got 2,167 vote points while Tua received 1,871 points.

Finishing third in the 2018 voting was Dwayne Haskins with 783 points. The fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers were also quarterbacks. The Heisman has become almost solely a quarterback and running back contest with the QBs having a big advantage.

The Heisman buzz in the first half of the 2019 season has mostly been about Clemson QB, Trevor Lawrence, Tua, Oklahoma QB, Jalen Hurts and LSU QB, Joe Burrow. Enthusiasm for Lawrence has faded with his good, but far from great start as a sophomore. As Lawrence faded, Ohio State QB, Justin Fields rose to the top group in projected odds to win.

Several other players have been talked about in the first half of the season. Jonathan Taylor, running back from Wisconsin, being the most prominent. Alabama football wide receiver, Jerry Jeudy was the top projected pass catcher. As Tua’s passes have found so many different Crimson Tide receivers, Jeudy’s Heisman odds have dropped. Fellow Tide player and wide receiver, Devonta Smith is mentioned now. Currently, Oklahoma Sooner, CeeDee Lamb probably has the best wide receiver odds to win the honor. The last wide receiver to win the award was Desmond Howard in 1992.

With the exception of Charles Woodson in 1997, the award has only been won by quarterbacks and running backs since Desmond Howard won in 1992. Of the 18 Heisman Trophy awards this century, 16 have gone to quarterbacks. The other two went to Alabama football running backs, Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry.

Who will win in 2019?

The easy answer with little chance of being wrong is a quarterback. There is early voting for the award but according to recent history, almost 90 percent of the votes are not submitted until after the regular season and conference championships.

With so much late voting, players on the top teams have a large advantage. They benefit from high-profile exposure. Those on CFB Playoff bound teams also have enhanced chances to win.

After seven weeks of the season, strong arguments can be made for Tua, Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow. All three have great numbers. Hurts might have a slight advantage putting up his numbers against Big 12 defenses. Either Tua or Joe Burrow will likely get a boost as the winner in the Nov. 9 head-to-head contest in Tuscaloosa.

Some have suggested the Alabama football, RPO-slant pass success actually hurts Tua’s chances. The throws are short and most of the yardage comes after the catch. Our guess is that idea is bogus, and if it has any merit, we doubt Tua cares.