‘How could he not be the Heisman?’ Jordan Davis praise ramps up after ‘Godzilla-like’ performance for Georgia football

ATHENS — Kirby Smart knows the Heisman Trophy award usually goes to quarterbacks. He never thought he’d see a wide receiver win it again prior to Alabama’s Devonta Smith doing so last year.

But if you ask some of his players, it seems like the Bulldogs have a Heisman Trophy candidate in someone who is the antithesis of stat-heavy quarterbacks.

It’s Georgia’s monster of a defensive tackle, Jordan Davis.

“When you see someone like Jordan Davis, how can you not have him as the Heisman,” Adam Anderson asked.

Related: Georgia football instant observations show why it’s the No. 1 team in the country against Kentucky

If you look at the box score, you don’t see even a dominant defensive player. Davis had just 3 tackles in Georgia’s 30-13 win over Kentucky, with none going for a loss. Through seven games, he has only 1.5 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss

But if you watch the games, you see Davis open up so many things up for his Georgia teammates. The Bulldogs held Kentucky to just 51 rushing yards. Davis is both literally and figuratively why that was the case.

“Seeing a dude that is 340, 6-7 moving like that, stopping the run,” Anderson said. “A lot of people are like, ‘Is he getting these tackles?’ When JD is taking three dudes out, he’s helping the other person out. He’s a team player.”

Smart attempted to quantify what kind of impact Davis has on opposing offenses. Georgia has led the country in run defense in each of the past two seasons and is poised to do so again.

Davis is not a quarterback, yet he’s played at least as big a role for this No. 1 ranked Georgia team as Stetson Bennett or JT Daniels.

“Godzilla-like. He’s impactful. He’s the immovable object,” Smart said. “When he buys into staying healthy and keeping his weight down, he’s a really good player.

“He does everything he can to the best of his ability. He works hard for us and he’s been impactful in stopping the run and allowing us to play alternative coverages that you can’t do sometimes when people can run the ball on you.”

Smart has said before there isn’t a superstar on this defense. The Bulldogs do have a wealth of really good players, with Davis being one of them.

And while the Georgia head coach didn’t go too far to push Davis for Heisman when asked if the Georgia defense — to this point the best individual unit in the country — had a Heisman contender, he did make it clear that more people should get to know Davis.

He’s got an infectious personality. He’s adored by both fans and teammates. He’s funny and gracious. He’s the kind of player and person that college football should celebrate.

Davis could be in the NFL at this moment. But he elected to come to Georgia for his senior season.

That proved to be a pretty wise decision, as he continues to wreck college football offenses and make it clear he is one of the best players in the sport.

“People who don’t know him should get to know him because he’s just fun and fun to be around,” Smart said. “Embrace him.”

Jordan Davis states his case for the Heisman Trophy

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation