Emmanuel Forbes had a historic season at cornerback for Mississippi State but unfortunately his trophy case will be empty.
The junior from Grenada, Mississippi, tied for the nation's lead with six interceptions and led all players with three pick-sixes. Despite that, Forbes was not named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award, given to the top defensive back in college football.
"Thankful for making the Jim Thorpe Award semifinals but it's all politics and I'm happy about the year I had. Hail Damn State!" Forbes wrote on Twitter.
Three cornerbacks were selected as finalists over Forbes in Tre'vius Hodges-Tomlinson (TCU), Clark Phillips (Utah), and Devon Witherspoon (Illinois). These names may not be familiar to SEC fans, so I took a deep dive into the stats to see if the voters got it right.
The first thing I looked at was the counting stats. Of course, we all know Forbes was a ballhawk, as he was tied with Phillips for six interceptions to lead the FBS. However, Forbes was better with the ball in his hands as he took three to the house this season to Phillips' two, and he set the SEC and FBS record for six in his career.
Witherspoon appeared to be the best against the run leading the group in tackles and TFLs, but ultimately what you do in coverage is more important, and he led the group with 14 pass breakups.
While the counting stats are nice, the advanced stats are really what paint the picture. That's where Witherspoon separates himself from the group, and it's easy to see why he had the highest PFF grade.
Witherspoon was lockdown, allowing the least amount of receptions and yards of the group, and did not surrender a single touchdown on the season. Witherspoon also had the lowest passer rating allowed, but Forbes certainly has a case to be made.
Forbes had the 2nd least amount of yards allowed and was tied for 2nd in receptions. He was also targeted the least, which shows how afraid teams were to throw his way.
Forbes and Hodges-Tomlinson were pretty similar, as they both surrendered the same amount of receptions. However, Forbes was better at limiting big plays as he held his opponents to 9.3 yards per catch, the best of the group, to Hodges-Tomlinson's 12.2.
Hodges-Tomlinson was better at keeping his opponents out of the endzone, allowing one touchdown to Forbes' three, but I'd argue that Forbes' ability to create offense with his defense was more beneficial to his team.
The real head-scratcher of the group was Clark Phillips. The Utah cornerback, by far, allowed the most receptions and yards, and allowed the highest completion percentage. He also gave up the most touchdowns, and you can't make the ballhawk argument with him here since Forbes was tied with him in interceptions with more touchdowns.
The stats really seem to favor Devon Witherspoon, and if the Illinois cornerback does take home the award I won't have any beef.
The issue is that the Big Ten West isn't exactly known for its prolific passing offenses, which certainly makes a defensive back's job easier.
Five of the 11 FBS teams that Witherspoon faced (Virginia 111, Iowa 113, Indiana 122, Northwestern 128, and Wyoming 129) graded outside the top 100 in passing offense, according to PFF. Additionally, only three of his opponents (Minnesota 19, Wisconsin 47, and Michigan State 48) graded in the top 50.
So are we really to reward someone for competing against lackluster competition?
Just look at who Forbes had to face. Six of the ten FBS teams that Forbes went up against (Georgia 12, Alabama 17, Memphis 28, Arkansas 32, LSU 38, and Arizona 48) graded in the top 50, and he only faced one team (Texas A&M 120) who graded outside the top 100.
The level of offenses that Forbes faced should close the gap a bit. No matter where you stand on the Witherspoon vs. Forbes debate, it's evident that Forbes should be in the conversation for the award and that the Thorpe committee got this one wrong.
