Alabama's Jonathan Allen an All-American, but is he a Heisman candidate?
As a Heisman Trophy voter, it hasn’t been a banner season for the most prestigious award in college football.
Especially for somebody who covers the SEC exclusively, as none of the preseason contenders have really lived up to the hype. While LSU running back Leonard Fournette was spectacular Saturday, he has missed three games.
This was supposed to be the best bunch of ball carriers in conference history, yet the big names at the top have all struggled to some degree. Georgia’s Nick Chubb — coming off a devastating injury, of course — is only ninth in the league in rushing. Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd is 17th, which doesn’t make any sense.
As for Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, the SEC’s premier passer, he has already directed more losses in 2016 than all of 2015.
Because there are a lot of column inches to write before Dec. 10, when the bronze will be awarded, voters are looking for fresh candidates. It’s simply not interesting to go ahead and hand it to Louisville QB Lamar Jackson.
Based on the performance he had in a Week 8 victory over Texas A&M, Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen is starting to get the media’s attention. The 6-foot-3, 291-pounder was unblockable — the Aggies were admittedly inexperienced up front — with 6 tackles, 4 hurries and a Superman-style sack of Trevor Knight.
Allen also returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach. It was his second fumble-return TD of the season.
So far this year, Allen has been credited with 35 tackles and 6.0 sacks. Not only has he put points on the board himself, but he even took points off the board when he blocked a field-goal attempt against Western Kentucky.
A five-star signee from Ashburn (Va.) Stone Bridge High School, Allen (below) was the No. 3 recruit in the country at his position, No. 2 in the state of Virginia and No. 16 overall. After a productive junior campaign — 12.0 sacks and a national championship — he could have left Tuscaloosa for the NFL Draft.
Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Four of his defensive mates from last year were selected in Round 2. Allen, however, has solidified himself as a future first-rounder.
Wanting to prove to pro scouts that he’s an every-down player, Allen has been a force this season against the run and pass. He’s as responsible as anyone for ‘Bama leading the conference in rushing defense and sacks.
His sack of Knight will be seen on endless highlight reels between now and draft weekend come late April in Philadelphia. He eluded the left guard and dived over a hapless running back right into the signal caller’s bread basket.
Not to mention the fact that it was the kind of “did you see that?!” play we’ve come to expect from eventual Heisman winners.
The aforementioned Jackson is the clear frontrunner at this point. He’s thrown for 18 touchdowns and run for 16 more, registering at least one each on the ground and through the air in every game for the Cardinals.
As is usually the case, a handful of other quarterbacks are in contention, too. J.T. Barrett’s candidacy just took a hit with Ohio State coming off an upset at the hands of Penn State. On the other hand, Jake Browning of Washington — sporting a ridiculous TD-to-INT ratio of 26-to-2 — is still undefeated.
The Heisman tends to be reserved for passer and runners, but not many tailbacks have made a convincing case.
The top seven rushers in America play outside the Power 5 conferences. Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey is human after all. Royce Freeman’s Oregon team is a tire fire. Florida State’s Dalvin Cook (below) has been great, but not otherworldly.
Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
As for the receiver position, it hasn’t produced a winner since Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991. And with the proliferation of spread-option offenses, it’s hard to take a wideout’s numbers seriously. Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson are atop the nation in yards receiving per game with 142.9 and 136, respectively.
Taylor and Henderson both play for Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs are an irrelevant 5-3 in lowly Conference USA.
So maybe this is the season for an off-the-radar applicant to walk away with the trophy. Another Michigan product, cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997, is the only winner to primarily play on the defensive side of the ball.
Nevertheless, Woodson was really a three-way player. On defense, he intercepted 7 passes. On special teams, he returned 33 punts and took one all the way to the house for a touchdown. On offense, he had 3 carries for 15 yards, 11 receptions for 231 yards — that’s an even 21 yards per catch — and scored 3 TDs.
As if he wasn’t versatile enough, Woodson even completed the one pass he threw. It went for a 28-yard gain.
Allen has no such luxury as a defensive lineman. Still, given how well he’s run with the rock on those two fumble returns, he could be a short-yardage and goal-line fullback. Tide coach Nick Saban isn’t into gimmicks, though.
I’m not eliminating Allen from consideration based solely on the position he plays — for the record, my first year as a voter in 2009, Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh was third on my ballot. He led the Cornhuskers in tackles (85), tackles for loss (20.5) and sacks (12.0), which is unheard of for a D-tackle.
Moreover, Suh wasn’t surrounded by a fraction of the talent that Allen lines up with snap after snap for Big Al.
Allen could conceivably walk away with the Lombardi, Bednarik and Nagurski awards, as well as the Lott IMPACT Trophy for outstanding defensive player. The Heisman, however, is likely a stiff-arm out of reach.
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.
