How Jaylen Waddle was robbed of the Heisman Trophy

Through only four games in 2020, Jaylen Waddle was leading the Alabama Crimson Tide in receiving with 557 yards and four touchdowns. If he had played the full season, Waddle was on pace for over 1,600 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns on the season. Unfortunately for Waddle, he would break his ankle against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 24th and fail to return until the National Championship game against Ohio State.

While the Tide would claim their sixth national championship under head coach Nick Saban with a prolific offense, Waddle would largely see it from the sidelines negating his chance at winning the Heisman Trophy.

Many may recall that another Alabama wide receiver, DeVonta Smith would win the Heisman Trophy that year. Smith would team up with quarterback Mac Jones to soar the Crimson Tide offense to historic heights with 1,856 yards receiving and 23 touchdowns.

Few realize however that prior to Waddle’s injury, he was the primary option with the best numbers through Alabama’s first four games. Smith was second to Waddle in receiving through this portion of the schedule with 483 receiving yards to Waddle’s 557, with the two each having four receiving touchdowns.

Despite the tie in receiving touchdowns, it was clear that Waddle was the primary option as in addition to having more receiving yards that Smith with even more dynamic play-making ability. While it would have inevitably been a receiving core that saw two number one options, Waddle’s average yards per reception would have set him apart as it sat at 23 yards per reception to Smith’s 12.4.

In the end, it all worked out for the Tide who defeated Ryan Day’s Buckeye’s for Saban’s seventh National Championship, but this note does indeed go unnoticed. And with both receiver’s primary pass-catching options on their NFL teams today, think about “what could have been” next time you watch each of them play.