Shatel: Suh is worthy of Heisman

Start with this: I take the Heisman Trophy very seriously, maybe more seriously than it sometimes deserves. I'm not into gimmicks. I'm not going to raffle off my vote, a la Nissan. I'm not going to put it up for bid on eBay. I'll put in due diligence and research, give it a lot of thought and then, like everyone else, I'll make my best guess.

That's the thing about the Heisman: take it for what it's worth, an opinion. That's all the Heisman vote is, an opinion, based on fact, fiction, popularity, bias, all of the above. The Heisman folks simply tell you to vote for the “most outstanding player,'' whatever that means. They don't give you a standard or road map. They leave you to fill in the blank, literally.

That said, here's my ballot heading into the last weekend of college games:

1. Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska.

2. Colt McCoy, Texas.

3. Tim Tebow, Florida.

Thanks to the Heisman Trust making all of the ballots electronic this year, I can wait until the dust settles on the Big 12 championship bout between Suh and McCoy late Saturday night. I'm not sure that it will matter. To sway my vote, McCoy may have to score six touchdowns, throw a pass off the monster alien video board, get Bo Pelini to laugh and promise to bring a Chick-fil-a to Omaha. Or just get Pelini to smile.

I'm pretty locked in on Suh, for two reasons: I believe that Suh is the best player in the country, and I want to use my vote to make a statement.

Statement? Yes, I said no gimmicks. And my little vote isn't going to change the culture of the Heisman vote, which has become an annual replay of the last scene in “Casablanca.'' But I'm tired of rounding up the usual suspects.

And yes, I'm biased. I have had the privilege of watching Suh every week. I've seen him impact games, literally change them, from his interior post. Offenses have to scheme around him and change their plan on the fly depending on what he's doing. He is inside the coaches' heads. That's the very definition of an MVP.

He's an anomaly for an interior lineman. He drops back and intercepts passes. He's blocked two field goals and one extra point. He thinks like an offensive skill position player, a playmaker who changes games.

And, for the second straight year, he leads his team in tackles, crazy for a defensive tackle. As espn.com's Bruce Feldman wrote, “That's shocking. That just doesn't happen these days. You might as well see a 2,500-yard rusher.''

He even has a signature highlight. When he threw Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert down like a rag doll back in the Big 12 opener on Oct. 8, injuring Gabbert's ankle, he literally changed Nebraska's season — and the Big 12 North race — with one play. That's usually the stuff we get when Johnny Rodgers returns a punt or Eric Crouch catches a pass.

He's done all this while Sam Bradford was injured and Tebow and McCoy were noticeably average early in the season. They've had big games lately. But Suh has been great from beginning to end. And it's been one of those nondescript Heisman years, where nobody stood out. Except a defensive tackle.

Suh won't win it. I know that. He knows that. For him, simply being invited to the Heisman ceremony would be like winning it.

“I definitely would be happy to be a finalist and go to New York and be part of the festivities and what-not,'' Suh said on Tuesday. “It's not something that I'm expected to win.''

Oh, it's happened. Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1997. But Woodson won because he also made big plays as a receiver and punt returner, and because America was tired of the Peyton Manning hype. Suh is every bit the defensive player — and more — that Woodson was.

We saw that at Missouri. All of the awards he figures to cart home next week started on that rain-soaked field in Columbia. Suh made some Heisman lists that week, too. But defensive tackles can't sustain the attention span of a country that devours highlights of touchdown passes and runs.

And big wins, too. The Heisman has become a reward for the quarterback and running back on the top teams in the country. And that's the other double standard in this beauty contest. Quarterbacks get credit for wins. Defensive tackles do not.

That's human nature. We watch football with an eye toward offense. Defensive stats don't compute. But then they should rename the Heisman the “Offensive Player of the Year Award.'' Or give out two Heismans, one each for offense and defense.

“I'd say at his position, he's as good a player as there is in the country,'' Pelini said. “But that's not how it works. They should just say, ‘We're not going to consider defensive guys.' But don't call it the best player in college football. I'm not saying those guys (quarterbacks) aren't. But what are the standards?

“It's media driven. I think if the coaches voted on it, it would be much different.''

Or maybe NFL experts should vote, or the litany of draft gurus, such as KC Joyner of espn.com. In an article this week called “Draft Lab'' on espn.com, Joyner laid out a stunning case why Suh should be the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft and win the Heisman, calling him one of the few defensive players who impact a game “like the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings of the world.''

After breaking down six of Suh's games this season, Joyner went through a detailed report of how many times Suh defeated point-of-attack blocks, double teams and traps to make “splash plays,'' or when a defender does something to negatively impact a passing play. Suh had 25 of those in six games, something Joyner called “insanely impressive.''

Voters should read that article, but it was so technical it wouldn't sink in. Voters don't know what a splash play is. But they lose their cookies when Tebow makes a jump pass. Too bad Suh didn't get to carry the ball at fullback like last season. His Heisman case needs all the help it can get.

The other thing about the Heisman: there's no right or wrong, just what you believe in your heart and gut and all that. What I believe is that Suh is the best football player in the country. He's got at least one vote. Well, unless Pelini breaks out laughing on Saturday night.

Contact the writer:

444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

« Sports - Main

Share