Five players who deserved to win the Heisman Trophy but didn’t

There are few who would contest that Jeremiah Smith is the best overall player in college football this season. And while he is currently the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, the reality is that the Heisman is an award overwhelmingly dominated by quarterbacks, so there’s a strong chance that the award will ultimately go to whoever emerges as the nation’s top quarterback by the end of the season.

If that does happen, it wouldn’t be the first time that the best player in the country did not win the award that’s supposed to honor the best player in the country. Here are five times throughout college football history when a player was unjustly penalized due to the position that they played.

5. Chase Young, DE, Ohio State (2019)

Right off the bat, I’m going to have to concede that Joe Burrow deserved this award. His record-setting 2019 season with the LSU Tigers might be the best individual season from a quarterback of all time. It would be insane to look back at this season and claim that he did not deserve the Heisman Trophy.

That said, the vote should have been a hell of a lot closer.

Young was one of the most dominant pass rushers college football has seen in the modern era. He set Ohio State’s single-season record with 16.5 sacks while posting 21.5 tackles for loss and forcing six fumbles, all while missing two games due to an NCAA suspension. He was a unanimous All-American and won both the Bednarik Award and the Nagurski Trophy after one of the most impactful seasons we’ve ever seen from a defensive player.

Still, he finished just fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, behind Burrow, Justin Fields, and Jalen Hurts. Young actually received the second-most first-place votes (20) behind Burrow (841), but he was so low on so many quarterback-centric ballots that he didn’t even finish second.

To reiterate, Burrow deserved the award this year. But any other year, Young probably should have won it. Unfortunately, the voting indicates that he probably wouldn’t have, as he finished behind both Fields and Hurts this year.

4. Steve Emtman, DT, Washington (1991)

Steve Emtman was the centerpiece of a Washington defense that carried the Huskies to an undefeated season and the 1991 national championship, and he was absolutely dominant.

He finished with 62 tackles and 20.5 tackles for loss, remarkable production for an interior lineman. With him anchoring the line, Washington allowed just 9.2 points and 67.1 rushing yards per game.

Emtman swept the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award and was a unanimous All-American, but he finished just fourth in the Heisman voting behind Michigan’s Desmond Howard and two quarterbacks: Florida State’s Casey Weldon and BYU’s Ty Detmer. However, he was pretty clearly the best player in the country that season; he just didn’t play a flashy enough position.

3. Hugh Green, DE, Pitt (1980)

A three-time All-American, Hugh Green had a legendary career with the Pitt Panthers, and he was an absolute terror as a senior in 1980. He totaled 123 tackles, 17 sacks, four fumble recoveries and six pass breakups, and he did it as an undersized defensive end at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds.

Green anchored a Pitt team that went 11-1 and finished No. 2 in both polls. He swept the Lombardi Award, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, becoming the first defensive player ever to win the Walter Camp. He was also named UPI Player of the Year. He was so dominant that Pitt retired his No. 99 at halftime of his final home game.

Despite all of this, Green still didn’t win the Heisman, as he finished second behind South Carolina running back George Rogers. It remains the highest finish ever for a purely defensive player, a mark since matched only by Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o in 2012 and Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson in 2021.

Adding to the argument that Green deserved the award, Pitt’s defense shut down Rogers in the Gator Bowl, suggesting that the Heisman went to the wrong player.

2. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska (2009)

Ndamukong Suh had perhaps the most dominant season ever by a defensive lineman. He recorded 85 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, and 28 quarterback hurries, all while leading Nebraska in tackles as a defensive tackle. He also broke up 10 passes and blocked three kicks.

His signature performance came in the Big 12 Championship, when he had 12 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks against Texas quarterback Colt McCoy in a 13-12 loss. He won the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy, and he became the first defensive player named AP College Football Player of the Year.

We might never see a defensive lineman that impacted the game the way that he did.

Despite all of this, Suh finished just fourth in the Heisman voting behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, and McCoy, though he won the Southwest region outright. His point total was the highest ever for a fourth-place finisher.

1. Orlando Pace, OT, Ohio State (1996)

Orlando Pace was the single most dominant offensive lineman in college football history. He recorded 80 pancake blocks during his final season and didn’t allow a sack in either of his final two seasons of college football. He flattened defenders so often that he became known as “The Pancake Man.”

Pace became the first-ever two-time winner of the Lombardi Award in 1995 and 1996 and added the Outland Trophy as a junior – his final season before entering the NFL Draft. He also helped Ohio State win a share of the Big Ten title and a 20-17 victory over Arizona State in the Rose Bowl.

Pace was widely considered the best individual player in college football, and few would argue against it in hindsight. Still, he finished just fourth in the 1996 Heisman voting behind Florida’s Danny Wuerffel, Iowa State’s Troy Davis, and Arizona State’s Jake Plummer.

The one positive thing for Pace is that his blocking was a big reason why Eddie George won the Heisman Trophy in 1995. So while he didn’t win the trophy himself, he at least did help bring the hardware to a teammate.

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