I guess, if it comes down to these two, I’d give it to Carrico because: 1) He’s a dominant player on both offense AND defense— his offensive stats are in the neighborhood with KIner’s— but he’s actually recruited to play LB for OSU (apparently); 2) His team beat Kiner’s team head-to-head, with Carrico having a better game (statistically) than Kiner....
I think Mr. Football is pretty much a joke— it’s a lot like the Heisman, only worse-- no one really has ANY idea what most of these kids actually are like or can do—because there are so many disparities in the level of competition that they face (due to both Division levels AND schedule difficulty), and most of the voters have never even seen a picture, let alone game action, of the players that they vote on... I remember a few years back (more than a decade ago), when (I think) North Canton Hoover had this beast of a man-child, who played Tailback for Hoover, and was racking up ALL KINDS of stats— and the Northeast Ohio media mafia horde was well organized and determined to vote him this award (which was ironic, because, if I recall correctly, this kid ALSO had a raft of questionable character issues)— but even in Northeast Ohio at Division I Hoover, this player did NOT face the kind of competition that Ig or Ed or the GCL South schools face weekly... There was also a QB at a small school in Central OH, Maty Mauk? (his dad was his coach—Kenton?)— he racked up incredible stats throwing the ball 40-60 times/game, against small schools who barely ever even saw a forward pass the rest of the season–- I don’t know if Mauk won it— but I KNEW he wasn’t the best football player in OH that year (even though he did go on to play college Division I football)...
And then there’s the problem that (like the Heisman), all the emphasis is on offensive players— NO ONE even talks about a dominant defensive player as in the running— and never will— no matter WHAT they do— does anyone think that there was likely an actual better football player in the state of Ohio, in the 2008 season, than Luke Keuchley from St. Xavier (who played a safety/LB hybrid position called “Adjustor” for St. X that year)— He’s almost CERTAINLY the most talented football player that Ohio HS football had that year— he’s pretty likely to be the only one playing in Ohio that year who will be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (after setting a record for the most tackles in NCAA Division I history, in just THREE YEARS of college play at Boston College in the ACC)— but St. X had a losing record his senior year, and NOBODY was going to talk about HIM for Mr. Football...
All that is a long way of saying, I guess Carrico is as a good a candidate as we’ll find, seeing as he also plays a BIG role on both offense and defense— seems like THAT would better fit the role of MR. FOOTBALL, than someone who only shines on one side of the ball (or the other)... perhaps that is self-limiting, in that the truly transcendent talents (e.g.- a Mitch Trubisky at QB for Mentor, or a Luke Keuchley at X) are so good at what they do, that no one wants to detract from that by making them into “all-purpose” players— especially at the larger enrollment schools, where they typically have enough talent to make it more astute to play more guys, and have more specialization— AND (especially when it comes to QBs) also, NO ONE wants to risk blowing up their season (and/or damaging a top prospect’s future college/pro career potential), by getting their QB or RB or WR hurt playing LB or safety, or some such...
