Stetson Bennett: Successful enough for every award but the Heisman Trophy

Georgia football starting quarterback Stetson Bennett may be leading the Heisman Trophy fan vote, but for most of the season, he hasn’t been someone that has piqued the voters’ interests. Maybe he has for some, but not enough to be a Heisman consideration on most of the college football world’s coverage of the award that they do every week.

Does Bennett have Heisman odds? Sure does, but no one gives him a chance to win the award. While his numbers haven’t been the most impressive the last few weeks, this award isn’t just about what those stats tell us. Plus, Bennett’s stats match up with the Heisman front runners anyway, but no one wants to acknowledge that.

He is a finalist in the Burlsworth Trophy for the best former walk-on player and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Bennett was also a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and was one of 22 players recognized as a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year honor.

However, the only way Bennett is in the Heisman discussion is through the fan vote, which is great, but what more does he need to do to impress someone? His numbers are good, and Bennett makes Heisman-worthy moments. Not to mention, he is the walking definition of the award — yet here we are making another argument as to why he deserves an invitation to New York City for the ceremony.

Georgia football Stetson Bennett is undervalued, which could be a mistake for the Heisman Trophy voters.

While the Heisman Trophy winner gets announced before the playoffs, if Bennett leads the Dawgs to back-to-back national championships, wins an SEC Championship, and goes 15-0 on the year — wouldn’t he be the ideal candidate? It’s silly to award these honors before the bowl games because those games count in the win-loss columns. These are games that players play in and perform in — why shouldn’t they get recognized for those with these various positions and college football awards?

Most of the guys up for these awards play in the playoffs and bowl games anyway, wouldn’t adding the postseason make sense? It’s a personal opinion, but it would make sense, especially for this season. Bennett may not be the best player in the country, but that isn’t what the Heisman Trophy is. He has the stats to match what it means to be a Heisman winner, but all people look at nowadays is the numbers.

The Heisman candidates have all had questionable games this year, including Bennett. No one looks at the countless ways Bennett has kept Georgia in the game, led them down the field with big plays, or anything like that. All they see are his mistakes. The other Heisman contenders make mistakes too. Not to mention, where does it say in the Heisman Trophy requirements that the winner has to throw 40 touchdowns — it doesn’t, so, oddly, people continue to push that narrative.

Bennett is omitted because he is a former walk-on and doesn’t fit the mold of a Heisman winner because that narrative has been pushed for years now. He leads a high-powered offense but chooses to run instead of throwing for touchdowns, and this defense gives up 11.09 points a game. Sure he has 21 total touchdowns through 11 games, but it’s similar to Troy Smith, that won the Heisman in 2006 with 31 touchdowns with a stout defense.

Those narratives are around because the world isn’t comfortable giving Bennett a shot at the Heisman Trophy. It doesn’t fit what the public wants the award to be about, which in my opinion, shows how little some people understand football.

Bennett is on the verge of history, but no one wants to give him that credit, and that tells everyone the Heisman Trophy has gotten away from what the award is truly about, which is sad. So go vote for Bennett on the Heisman Trophy fan ballot and keep doing it until they close the voting because it’s important to make sure he gets the love he earned.