College football has an award for virtually everything these days. What about one that honors the best player on a team that wasn’t very good? Call it the Jay Cutler Prize after the Vanderbilt quarterback who became a first-round pick despite playing for a team that went 11-35 in his college career.
Purdue receiver Rondale Moore runs away from Boston College’s Hamp Cheevers for a touchdown in the Boilermakers’ upset win over then-No. 23 Boston College. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Every once in a while – right here, for instance – you’ll see someone suggest that the two worst teams in college football should face each other in the postseason. A “Toilet Bowl,” if you will.
What about adapting that concept for good and recognizing the best player on a bad team? Call it the Jay Cutler Prize, named after the quarterback who in 2005 became the first Vanderbilt Commodore to be named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and next a first-round NFL draft pick, despite playing for a program that went 11-35 during his college career.
There have been lots of Cutlers who deserved serious consideration for the actual Heisman Trophy, but it’s clear that you almost always have to play on one of the nation’s best teams in order to receive more than a few votes.
The criteria for the Cutler Prize? 1. Play on a team that finished.500 or worse. 2. Be a total stud.
If such a trophy existed, I would beat the drum for a guy I watch every Saturday: Purdue freshman Rondale Moore, who immediately became a star at the university where I now work. Maybe it’s unfair to say he plays on a bad team – the Boilermakers have won three straight since an 0-3 start – but it will be a minor miracle if Purdue manages to finish the season at.500 or better. Starting with Saturday night’s home date against Ohio State, Purdue’s remaining schedule is third-toughest in the nation according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.
Rest assured that Moore will be the focal point of whatever the Boilermakers’ resurgent offense accomplishes, however. Nearly every game he makes at least one play that wows everyone in attendance, starting with his college debut. In the opener against Northwestern, Moore scored touchdowns on a 76-yard run and a 32-yard pass, rolling up 302 all-purpose yards in the first half alone. He finished with a school-record 313 all-purpose yards in one of the greatest individual performances I’ve seen in person.
Boosting Moore’s bona fides for this award is that the electric freshman ranks fourth nationally in all-purpose yards (167.83 yards per game) and 16th in receiving ypg (93.0), leading Purdue with 45 catches for 558 yards and five touchdowns.
As good as he has been, though, Moore would draw stiff competition from other great players whose teams aren’t winning much. Some hail from major conferences (Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, Oregon State running back Jermar Jefferson, Arizona State running back Eno Benjamin, Arizona running back J. Taylor), some are from the quarterback class that so frequently claims the actual Heisman (Lock, Arizona State’s Manny Wilkins, Toledo’s Mitchell Guadagni, Southern Miss’ Jack Abraham), and some are cut from the same cloth as the small-and-shifty Moore.
Take UMass senior Andy Isabella, for example. The 5-foot-10 wideout has caught 25 touchdown passes over the last two-and-a-half seasons, including eight thus far in 2018. In the Minutemen’s last two games, against Ohio and South Florida, Isabella hauled in 25 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns.
In fact, there are several undersized, multi-talented stars who would rank among the leading contenders for this award.
At 5-9 and 170 pounds, Wake Forest’s Greg Dortch is typically one of the smallest players on the field, but he has produced more all-purpose yards (176.17 ypg, second nationally) than nearly anyone in the nation as a receiver and kick returner. Rice’s 5-8 Austin Walter sits just behind Dortch and just ahead of Moore in all-purpose yards (171 ypg), producing on the ground (471 yards), through the air (275 yards) and as a kickoff returner (451 yards).
Last but not least is Pooka Williams, who could have gone to a more established program, but wound up at Kansas. The 5-10,170-pound freshman is averaging 7.5 yards per carry and 107.8 rushing ypg, second-best among freshmen behind only Oregon State’s Jefferson. Williams has been so outstanding thus far that The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman named him this week as the nation’s most outstanding freshman in the first half of the season.
Lock has the most national name recognition, and several other names on this list will make excellent NFL players, but I’ll take Moore because of his ability to affect games in so many different ways. Regardless, there are some excellent options on the list below.
It’s a shame their teams aren’t playing better because the kids deserve more national attention than they’re getting. For now, contending for a Cutler will have to suffice.
Twenty of college football’s best offensive players who compete for teams that are .500 or worse David Ching
I have written about college athletics in newspapers and online since 2004, including a stint at ESPN.com from 2011-17. I primarily wrote about Southeastern Conference football at ESPN and have worked as a beat writer covering LSU, Georgia, Auburn and NCAA Division II Columb…
