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DeVonta Smith becomes 1st WR to win Heisman Trophy since 1991

Handout / Getty Images Sport / Getty

DeVonta Smith claimed the Heisman Trophy in a virtual ceremony on Tuesday night, becoming the first receiver since Michigan's Desmond Howard in 1991 to win the award.

The Alabama star is just the fourth player at the position to be named college football's top player.

The senior standout earned 447 first-place votes to claim the honor over Florida's Kyle Trask, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, and teammate Mac Jones. He joins Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry as the only Alabama players to win the Heisman Trophy in the program's storied history.

Player 1st-place votes Total points
Smith 447 1856
Lawrence 222 1187
Jones 138 1130
Trask 61 737

The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder turned in one of the best seasons for a receiver the sport has ever seen in 2020. Heading into Monday's national championship contest, Smith leads the nation with 1,641 receiving yards, 105 catches, and 22 total touchdowns for the year.

While he performed strongly at the beginning of the campaign, Smith really came on following the injury to fellow wideout Jaylen Waddle in mid-October. In seven games without Waddle, Smith averaged 155 yards receiving and scored 17 total touchdowns. The 1,085 yards he compiled in those seven games would have him ranked seventh in the country for the entire season.

The Heisman Trophy - and ensuing game Monday versus Ohio State - mark the end of an incredible career for Smith at Alabama. He burst onto the scene as a freshman, catching the 2018 national championship-winning 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime versus Georgia.

Despite often being the third or fourth option in the passing game the next two seasons, Smith still piled up a combined 110 catches for 1,949 yards and 20 touchdowns. Even though his elite talent was on full display throughout the first three seasons of his career, the numbers he posted in 2020 are borderline unbelievable, and certainly make him worthy of ending the Heisman wide receiver drought.

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