It’s Best for College Football If Andre Williams Wins The Heisman
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
No, don’t rub your eyes, you read the title correctly.
For Boston College faithful, there is no one else we believe is more deserving to hoist the Heisman Trophy than Andre Williams, but of course, this is biased. If you look at the eye-popping statistics that have been going viral this entire week such as 2,073 rushing yards in 11 games (and only the 6th player in FBS history to do this), 16 touchdowns, 188.5 rushing yards a game, and the leading rusher in the country, it backs up his case for the Heisman.
If only he could throw a football and not just run like Famous Jameis, Johnny Football, “Captain America” Jordan Lynch. Sigh.
In honor of BC’s seven wins in the regular season, here are seven reasons why awarding Boston College running back Andre Williams the Heisman Trophy on December 14th in New York City is best for college football.
1.) He isn’t a quarterback.
No disrespect to the resumes of Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Jordan Lynch, Derek Carr, and Johnny Manziel, but college football has become obsessed with your position.
There is no question a great quarterback is necessary to have a potent offense and to be a threat for a national championship in college football, but as of late, it seems that if you are not a quarterback, you are not a Heisman candidate. Last season, we had the two favorites be a quarterback — Johnny Manziel — and a linebacker — Manti Te’o — but since 2000, only one Heisman winner was not a quarterback. University of Alabama running back Mark Ingram in 2009 took the Heisman Trophy and has been the only other player not a quarterback to do so since 2000.
Ingram’s year pales in comparison to the one Williams is having, but it was refreshing to see someone other than a quarterback take home the prestigious Heisman award. It is very easy for quarterbacks to have bombastic statistics gained from clobbering subpar teams outside their conference, especially if you have a very good receiving corps like AJ McCarron has at Alabama.
The Heisman race has become quarterbacks in the front and the rest of the field in the back, but Williams has literally ran past this institutional prejudice to cement himself as a contender in the Heisman. Yes, being in the conversation to be a Heisman front-runner is an accolade in it of itself, but because he isn’t a quarterback, Williams needed to earn the hype that is surrounding him right now.
Awarding the Heisman Trophy to the most outstanding player means position doesn’t matter and therefore, awarding the Heisman to Williams displays that mission and shows you don’t need to just throw the ball in order to win the Heisman.