The Heisman Trophy has turned into a quarterback award, which isn’t quite fair, but such is life. However, that could change.
With the entire sport of football leaning more heavily on the run nowadays, running backs could come back en vogue. After all, running backs have won the award over 40 times. The Heisman Trophy was once considered a running back award. Not now. Quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy for seven of the last eight seasons.
A running back hasn’t won the award since Mark Ingram took home the hardware in 2009. That could change.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is currently among the favorites to win the award. His campaign seems based on reaching 2,500 yards this season and, possibly, eclipsing former Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders’ all-time rushing record of 2,628 yards in 1988. However, numbers don’t tell the true story and could exclude a current Vol from even getting a sniff of the award.
Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson deserves consideration for the Heisman Trophy if Jeanty is in the conversation. No, Sampson isn’t going to break any national records like Jeanty could, but for college aficionados, he is having an award-winning season.
Sampson leads the SEC with 112 yards rushing per game. That’s good for 11th best in the nation. I defy you to tell me that Boise State has played anything like Oklahoma’s defense. I also think it should be noted that Sampson has been pulled from one-sided games much more often than Jeanty.
It’s tough even finding odds on Sampson, who is probably perceived as the second option on Tennessee’s offense. That would be behind the Vols’ passing attack, which is led by quarterback Nico Iamaleava. However, those that know Tennessee’s football program know that the Vols’ pride themselves on running the football.
Sampson might be a better tailback than Jeanty, but the Vols’ junior won’t have near the numbers that Jeanty will have in the Mountain West Conference. The SEC is just too tough.
Jeanty has rushed for 845 yards this season compared to Sampson’s 449 yards rushing. Sampson has 10 touchdowns compared to Jeanty’s 13 scores this year. Jeanty clearly has the advantage in yards per attempt at 10.3 this season. Sampson is averaging 6.5 yards per rush this season.
Jeanty is great, but he’s often time running against thin air in Boise. Sampson is running against grown men in the SEC, against Oklahoma and even more so in the coming weeks. No, I don’t think either tailback is a true contender for the Heisman Trophy, but if Jeanty deserves to be in the conversation, then so does Sampson.
