NEW YORK (AP) — Move over running backs, Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith has emerged as the best player in college football.
Smith became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy in 29 seasons Tuesday night, breaking the monopoly quarterbacks have had on college football’s most prestigious award by beating out three of them.
The Crimson Tide senior is the fourth receiver to win the Heisman, joining Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991, Notre Dame’s Tim Brown in 1987 and Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers in 1972. The other finalists were Smith’s Alabama teammate Mac Jones, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Florida’s Kyle Trask. Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris finished fifth in the voting. Quarterbacks had won 17 of the previous 20 Heisman trophies, including the last four.
