Running Backs always wins the Heisman

[b1gd51]

Every single year. RB gets 1,800 yards/20 TD's and wins the Heisman from some low prestige school while a QB who passes for 4,400 yards/58 TD's/10 INT's and wins the National Championship w/ Florida gets shafted.

I've played through 7+ seasons now and a RB is always the one who wins.

[Vegas Vic]

That's a small sample size. I haven't noticed as issue with this, but I'll keep a closer eye on it.

In real life there have been decades where running backs dominated the Heisman Trophy. In the 1940's, they won 7 out of 10; in the 1950's they won 9 out of 10; in the 1970's they won 8 out of 10; in the 1980's they won 6 out of 10. True, the last 20 years have been dominated by QB's, but that doesn't mean the trend will continue.

[b1gd51]

Nah, it's definitely an issue right now. I had a previous league where a RB won the Heisman 5 years in a row. Then I started my current league where a RB has won the Heisman 6 years in a row. Then I started a test league w/ all default settings, simmed through 4 seasons now and a RB has won the Heisman 4 more years in a row. For the Yardage Settings -- in the Advanced Settings screen -- I even moved the Rushing Yards Modifier a tick down and bumped the Passing Yards Modifier 2 ticks up to no avail.

Like you said, in the last 20 years, only 3 RB's have won the Heisman -- Reggie Bush in '06, Mark Ingram in '09, and Derrick Henry in '15. The other 17 winners have been QB's. And the major reason why those RB's won it those 3 years was that they were boosted heavily by their team's playing in and/or winning the National Championship. Regardless of how many RB's dominated the Heisman votes before then, the current college football landscape heavily favors the QB's and should favor them in the game. But let's forget about that and look at other things:

1. In those 15 total seasons I've played, 2 RB's who won the award were from Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe. Every player who has won the award dating back to '94 played for a Power-5 school. If you consider Colorado being a Power-5 school in '94 -- which is who Rashaan Salaam played for when he won the Heisman -- then the list goes even further back. There's no way a player from low-prestige schools such as Ark. St. and ULM should be winning the award, regardless of what their stats are or what position they play. Power-5 players will always have precedence over them and rightfully so, due to much tougher competition.

2. Who do you think deserves the Heisman more?

RB (LSU): 1,879 yards --- 22 TD's
-or-
QB (ORE): 4,620 yards --- 47 TD's --- 6 INT's

RB (OSU): 1,835 yards --- 21 TD's
-or-
QB (FLA): 4,351 yards --- 58 TD's --- 10 INT's

RB (OSU): 2,025 yards --- 26 TD's
-or-
QB (FLA): 4,827 yards --- 42 TD's --- 3 INT's

**Examples 2 & 3 are the same two players each year. The RB from Ohio St. won back-to-back Heisman's while the QB from Florida put up more impressive stats AND won the National Championship both years.

The only one of those three examples where I would even come close to considering the RB over the QB is the 3rd example, but I'd still give it to the QB by a landslide because putting up those numbers AND winning a National Championship in the SEC would basically guarantee it.

[brooks_piggott]

I bumped up values for passing TD which should help.

[b1gd51]

I bumped up values for passing TD which should help.

Cool cool. Thanks Brooks. I'll test it out and see what I get.

I still think players from lower prestige schools shouldn't be valued as highly when it comes to the Heisman, though. I don't know if that was addressed or not in the 4.0.2 patch because the two RB's that won the award from Ark. St. and ULM were pre-patch and I haven't seen a player from a low-prestige school win it yet since then. But if not, they should probably be devalued a bit compared to Power-5 players.

[b1gd51]

@ Brooks

When you say you bumped the Passing TD's value up, did you mean you already did it or did you mean it was planned for the next patch or something?

Just asking, because I had another RB win the Heisman over these 3 QB's:

RB (CIN) --- 1,648 yards --- 26 TD's

QB (UVA) --- 4,309 yards --- 42 TD's --- 8 INT's
QB (WVU) --- 4,380 yards --- 40 TD's --- 6 INT's
QB (CLEM) --- 4,118 yards --- 45 TD's --- 8 INT's

[brooks_piggott]

For next patch... no eta on it though.

[b1gd51]

Copy that.