Who said the Heisman was just for quarterbacks? A young defensive force is proving otherwise, climbing past several top QBs, including Alabama’s Ty Simpson. Just a week ago, Simpson was tied with IU’s Fernando Mendoza in the odds, but heading into Week 11, his Heisman campaign has hit an unexpected snag. So, who’s the player shaking up the leaderboard and can Simpson bounce back before the race slips away?

On Friday, the Heisman Trophy’s official site posted that leaderboard on X with voting instructions, reading, “@HeismanTrophy I want to vote for #PlayerName.” But Simpson didn’t sit in the first seat even after his strong display against the Vols with 2 TD drives over 90 yards long and securing a 37-20 win for Bama. Instead, the leaderboard showed Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez leading the fan vote of 23.4%, ahead of the Bama QB, who received 12.5%.

But not only Simpson, Rodriguez even outpaced Georgia Tech QB Haynes King, who earned 21.6% of the votes. But his surge in popularity isn’t really shocking; the Red Raiders standout has been a defensive game-changer. Already a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, Rodriguez forced two crucial fumbles in Texas Tech’s 43-20 win over Kansas State, both leading directly to touchdowns. His ability to “punch out” the ball has become his signature move, leading the entire FBS with seven forced fumbles this season.

With such a stunning display while he was making waves as a semifinalist for the Butkus and Lombardi awards, his HC, Joey McGuire, even his head coach, Joey McGuire, is backing his Heisman case. “I don’t know, when you look at the Heisman race right now, who’s the no-brainer. It’s been a long time since we’ve looked at a defensive player as a possible guy,” said the Raiders HC. While Rodriguez’s plays are grabbing the spotlight, Simpson isn’t far behind.

According to BetMGM, he has +350 odds to win the Heisman, placing him third on the list entering Week 11. Even Alabama’s first Heisman winner, Mark Ingram, showed his support for Simpson to become the Tide’s fifth Heisman Trophy winner. “Ty Simpson is top two, and he ain’t two,” stated Ingram when he was asked about his Heisman favorite.

But his display against South Carolina wasn’t that sharp, as he missed opportunities and gained a lower completion percentage with 24 of 43. While that may be a reason for his 3rd place on the Heisman leaderboard, Simpson settled in the 4th quarter against the Gamecocks and gave Alabama a 29-22 win. That performance may have stalled his Heisman climb, but not his coach’s confidence.

Kalen DeBoer’s take on Ty Simpson after the South Carolina game

Alabama has long shown signs of struggle against weaker opponents, and their latest matchup against South Carolina offered the same reflection. Even though the scoreboard favored them (29-22), after Ty Simpson’s performance against South Carolina, there’s been plenty of chatter labeling the Crimson Tide quarterback a disappointment. Head coach Kalen DeBoer, however, came to his defense this week, brushing aside the noise surrounding Simpson’s off-night.

“I know that you can look at just one thing, I mean completion percentage, he’s an accurate passer, really accurate, and his standards are extremely high relative to others. That alone right there is an indication that, for one reason or another, we weren’t hitting as clean and as efficient as we’d like to.”

This season, Simpson has recorded 2,184 yards and 20 TDs through 8 games, so one subpar performance doesn’t deserve any harsh criticism for this QB. Probably, that’s why the Alabama HC made it clear the performance wasn’t all on Simpson. “Of course, that always falls on the quarterback, you know, it always does. But there’s other ways we could have helped him.”DeBoer continued, “We could protect a little bit better. You can run a route a little bit better, and you can catch the ball a couple more times on those balls that were catching contact.”

Now, while Ryan Williams’ missed opportunities also factored into the struggles against the Gamecocks, the Bama QB battled through it when it mattered most. “It’s a full unit, and it does fall on Ty,” mentioned DeBoer. “But he again made the plays down the stretch, and he battled. If there was anyone who believed, it was him. That was certainly something our team felt, and that’s why they kept playing until the very end.”

With the HC’s trust in his QB, Simpson surely will make big plays against LSU. But he needs to be crucially aware of those mistakes to ensure they don’t repeat the same against the Tigers.