23 for '23: If Alabama has a Heisman contender, who is it?

When it comes to projecting Alabama’s success this fall, it’s anyone’s guess. There’s still plenty to figure out before the Crimson Tide opens its season against Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 2 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. To help pass the time until then, TideIllustrated’s Tony Tsoukalas and James Benedetto will delve into 23 questions concerning the 2023 season.

Today, we continue the series by predicting which Alabama player has the best shot of winning the Heisman Trophy.

With 78 Consensus All-Americans in program history, it’s odd that Alabama has just four Heisman Trophy winners. In 2021, Bryce Young became the latest Crimson Tide player to add his name to this prestigious group joining Mark Ingram (2009), Derrick Henry (2015) and DeVonta Smith (2020). Young was the first quarterback in Alabama’s history to be named the best collegiate player in the country from a program that developed Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones, AJ McCarron, Ken Stabler and Joe Namath.

Thanks to Young’s performance in 2021, Alabama became the first school to win the trophy in consecutive seasons since Oklahoma did it in 2017 and 2018. The quarterback was unable to win the trophy in back-to-back seasons as USC’s Caleb Williams took home the award in 2022. With Young and other Heisman finalist Willl Anderson Jr. gone, Alabama doesn’t have a favorite to win the award for the first time since the 2012 campaign.

According to Odds Shark, Ty Simpson has Alabama’s best odds at +3000. However, he still hasn’t nailed down the starting role behind center. While Alabama won’t begin the season with a Heisman frontrunner, the Crimson Tide figures to be a national title contender and could still produce a candidate by the end of the year.

If Alabama is going to contend for a national title this season, it will have to return to its roots and reestablish its running game. No one will benefit more from that statistically than Jase McClellan. After serving as Alabama’s No. 2 option the past two years, the senior is expected to become Alabama’s lead back this fall.

Bouncing back from a season-ending injury in 2021, McClellan played in all 13 games last year, tying Jahmyr Gibbs for the team lead with seven rushing touchdowns while picking up 655 yards on the ground. He also reeled in 14 receptions for 174 yards and three more scores through the air.

While McClellan will have to share a loaded backfield with four other former Rivals100 members, his big-play ability should still allow him to pack the stat sheet. According to Pro Football Focus, the 5-foot-11, 212-pound back broke free for 10 or more yards on roughly 18% (20 of 111) of his carries last season. He was even more of a threat through the air, gaining 10 or more yards on 6 of his 14 catches (43%).

A running back hasn’t won the Heisman Trophy since Henry claimed the award in 2015. During that season, the bell-cow back carried the ball a whopping 395 times for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns. McClellan isn’t likely to match those numbers given Alabama’s depth in the backfield, but given his ability to contribute both as a runner and a receiver, he could work his way into the Heisman conversation.

A more realistic target might be Najee Harris’ 2020 season when the former Alabama back finished fifth in the Heisman voting. Harris led Alabama with 1,466 yards and 26 touchdowns on 251 carries that year while also recording 43 receptions for 425 yards and four scores.

McClellan’s Heisman chances will depend on how many touches he gets this season. However, if the senior can match his production from last year over 250 carries he’d have roughly 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. He could also benefit from Alabama’s young passers, who might rely on him for dump-off passes out of the backfield. For the sake of this argument, lets say he mirrors Harris’ production from 2020. Put that all together and you have roughly 2,000 total yards and 20 touchdowns.

Ever since its inception, the Heisman Trophy has gone to a player on the offensive side of the ball in all but one season. In 1997, Michigan’s Charles Woodson became the first and only primary defensive player to win the award in its 87-year history.

That year Woodson did it all on both sides of the ball. As a cornerback he wracked up 44 total tackles, nine pass breakups and eight interceptions. Woodson also had a career-year on the offensive side of the ball recording 12 receptions for 238 yards and two touchdowns. But what his season was known for was his explosive punt returns as he tallied 301 yards and a touchdown on 36 attempts for the Wolverines.

Alabama has a defensive back that is as stingy of a defender as Woodson and had an extremely successful first season as a punt-returner in Kool-Aid McKinstry. The second-team All-American at corner made 35 total tackles, 16 pass defenses and one interception. In his first season as the team’s punt returner he was named an All-SEC selection after tallying 332 yards on 21 attempts. Coming into his junior season, McKinstry is already projected to be a first-round pick and another big campaign will not only make him Alabama’s best contender to win the Heisman Trophy but will solidify him as the next great cornerback who will make an impact in the NFL.