The hype surrounding Iowa football player AJ Epenesa is crazy, but it’s warranted. Could he buck the Heisman trend of being historically offensive?
On the Stick To Football show last week, Bleacher Report Lead Draft Analyst Matt Miller said if he had to pick one defensive player who could win the Heisman Trophy out of the Big Ten, it would be Iowa football player AJ Epenesa.
This isn’t the first time that Miller has sung the praises of Epenesa or the Iowa football team’s defensive line for that matter, but it did get me thinking, could Epenesa actually win the Heisman?
And if so, what would it take?
Let’s just get this out of the way and say the chances of Epenesa being in the Heisman Trophy race, let alone winning the Heisman, are slim, but there is still a chance.
Here’s what Miller had to say:
"I love watching him play. He has size, strength. He’s quick. He’s productive. If anyone in the Big Ten is going to get my Heisman vote on defense, it’s AJ Epenesa."
From a historical standpoint, the last defensive player to win the most coveted award in college football was Charles Woodson back in 1997. Since then there have been 17 defensive players in the top-10 list for Heisman voting, and a couple of times, defensive players have come close.
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finished second in the 2012 voting while Ndamukong Suh finished 4th in 2009 as a defensive lineman. Even recently, we’ve seen defensive lineman get some love with Jonathon Allen finishing 7th in 2017 and Quinnen Williams finishing 8th last year.
So there is a precedent.
Going forward, Iowa football player AJ Epenesa would need to fulfill these four criteria if he wants to be on even the list for Heisman:
- Hype heading into the season: Consider this box checked. He’s a preseason All-American and a projected top-5 draft pick.
- Stats: The stats have to be there for an edge player. Unless he gets to 14-15 sacks, he’s not getting consideration in my opinion. Fortunately, 14-15 sacks should be quite possible after what we saw last year.
- Game-changing plays: This shouldn’t honestly be a problem after what we saw last year like against Illinois where he blocked a punt and forced a fumble on a sack, which he also recovered. Doing that in big-time moments like a victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor or in Lincoln against Nebraska would create a significant amount of positive momentum for Epenesa.
- Great team: Let’s face it, very rarely is the Heisman Trophy winner coming from an average team that went 8-4. Lamar Jackson and Louisville is the exception, not the norm. Epenesa would need to be a big contributor on a 10-12 win Iowa team.
While the thought of an Iowa football player (especially on the defensive side) winning the Heisman might seem improbable right now (and rightfully so), there is a solid chance given the criteria above that we could see Epenesa at least on the finalist list.
Given the historically offensive nature of this award, that should be considered a win in itself.