Offensive linemen and the Heisman

It’s rare that an offensive lineman gets significant Heisman attention. After all, most observers tend to follow the progress of the ball after it is snapped and the details of what an offensive lineman is required to do on a given play is not always apparent to the untrained eye.

Last fall, we took a look at the history of tight ends with the Heisman vote as well as the history of defensive linemen. Now, it’s time to catalogue the offensive linemen who made it into the top 10 of the Heisman vote over the years. Keep in mind that most of the early linemen to garner support from Heisman voters were two-way players. Since the return of two-platoon football, however, an offensive lineman has made it to the top 10 of the Heisman vote just nine times, with the last one coming in 2001. The highest finish ever by a pure offensive lineman came in 1973, when Ohio State tackle John Hicks placed second to John Cappelletti.

Here’s the overall list of top 10 finishes by offensive linemen:

One-Platoon Era
(Name, Position, School, Place)

1936
Ed Widseth, OT-DT, Minnesota, 7th

1937
AlexWojciechowicz, C-LB, Fordham, 4th

1938
Ki Aldrich, C-DL, TCU, 8th
Whitey Beinor, OT-DT, ND, 9th
Dean Hill, C-DL, Duke 10th

1941 
Endicott Peabody, OL-DL, Harvard, 6th

1942 
Dick Wildung, OT-DT, Minnesota, 7th

1943
Jim White, OT-DT, Notre Dame, 9th

1944 
Don Whitmire, OT-DT, Navy, 4th

1945 
Warren Amlin, OG-DG, Ohio State 7th

1947 
Chuck Bednarik, C-LB, Penn, 7th

1948 
Chuck Bednarik, C-LB, Penn, 3rd

1949 
Clayton Tonnemaker, C-LB, Minnesota, 7th

1951 
Don Coleman, OT-DT, Michigan State, 10th

1952 
Tom Catlin, C-LB, Oklahoma 10th

1953 
J.D. Roberts, OG-DG, Oklahoma, 8th

1954 
Kurt Burris, C-LB, Oklahoma, 2nd
Jack Ellena, OT-DT, UCLA, 7th

1955 
Bob Pellegrini, C-NG, Maryland, 6th
Bo Bolinger, OG-DG, Oklahoma, 9th
Calvin Jones, OG-DG, Iowa, 10th

1956 
Jerry Tubbs, C-LB, Oklahoma 4th
Jim Parker, OG-DG, Ohio State, 8th

1957 
Bob Anderson, C-LB, Army 7th

1958 
Bob Harrison, C-LB, Oklahoma 7th

1959 
Bill Burrell, OG-LB, Illinois, 4th

1960 
Tom Brown, OG-DG, Minnesota, 2nd

1961 
Joe Romig, OG-LB, Colorado, 6th

1962 
Bob Bell, OT-DT, Minnesota, 3rd

1963 
Dick Butkus, C-LB, Illinois 6th

1964 
Dick Butkus, C-LB, Illinois, 3rd

Two-Platoon Era

1967 
Bob Johnson, Tennesee, C, 6th

1973 
John Hicks, Ohio State, OT, 2nd

1982 
Dave Rimington, Nebraska, C, 5th

1983 
Bill Fralic, Pitt, OT, 8th

1984 
Bill Fralic, Pitt, OT, 6th

1988 
Tony Mandarich, Mich State, OT, 8th

1994 
Zach Wiegert, Nebraska, OT, 10th

1996 
Orlando Pace, Ohio State, OT, 4th

2001 
Bryant McKinnie, Miami, OT, 8th