For the ninth consecutive season, the College Football Researchers Association has bestowed a Player of the Year award to the best overall player in college football, and this season DeVonta Smith from Alabama has taken the title by a narrow margin. Smith edged out his teammate Mac Jones by one first-place vote and four total points to win this year’s title. In all, five different players garnered first-place CFRA player of the year votes in what clearly was a wide open competition. Six of the previous eight winners of this award went on to win the Heisman Trophy, with Deshaun Watson (2016) and Tua Tagovailoa (2018) being the two exceptions. The full breakdown of votes is below with the number of first-place votes each player received in parentheses:
1. DeVonta Smith, Alabama (3)– 29 points
2. Mac Jones, Alabama (2)– 25 points
3. Kyle Trash, Florida– 22 points
4. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson– 20 points
5. Najee Harris, Alabama– 16 points
6. Kyle Pitts, Florida– 9 points
7. Jaret Patterson, Buffalo– 6 points
8. Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina– 4 points
9. Breece Hall, Iowa State– 3 points
9. Justin Fields, Ohio State– 3 points
9. Javonte Williams, North Carolina– 3 points
12. C.J. Marable, Coastal Carolina– 2 points
12. Zach Wilson, Brigham Young– 2 points
12. Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon– 2 points
15. Travis Etienne, Clemson– 1 point
15. Landon Dickerson, Alabama– 1 point
15. Kellen Mond– 1 point
15. Ian Book– 1 points
The College Football Researchers Association 