Defensive players don't win the Heisman Trophy. Since its introduction, it's always been considered an award for offensive players -- usually quarterback and running back.

Earlier this week, CBS Sports' Jon Solomon wrote that Heisman voters need to change the way they think when it comes to which players should win the award. As somebody who has always been pro-defense, I had a hard time disagreeing with anything Jon wrote, so I decided to bring some of that same spirit to this week's Friday Five.

I'm looking back in time at five defensive players who definitely deserved more Heisman attention. Some of these guys received votes, some were even finalists, but none of them won.

These five didn't necessarily deserve to win -- even I'm willing to admit when an offensive player had an amazing year -- but could have easily finished second or third.

5. Deion Sanders, Florida State, 1988: The right person won this Heisman. I'm not about to sit here and tell you Barry Sanders didn't deserve it, because he rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns. To give it to anybody else would have been stupid.

After Barry, however, things were silly. USC QB Rodney Peete finished second. The same Rodney Peete that had 12 interceptions to go with his 18 touchdowns. Behind Peete were four more quarterbacks: Troy Aikman (UCLA), Steve Walsh (Miami), Major Harris (West Virginia) and Timm Rosenbach (Washington State). Even Michigan State offensive lineman Tony Mandarich received enough votes to finish sixth!

Behind all of these guys was Deion Sanders. The Jim Thorpe Award winner who was a lockdown corner, and had three touchdowns (two on interceptions, one on a punt return) couldn't finish ahead of an offensive lineman and five quarterbacks with rather average numbers.

4. Tyrann Mathieu, LSU, 2011: He was a finalist, showing up in New York with Robert Griffin, Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson and Montee Ball. He had no shot at winning, and honestly, I don't have much beef with Griffin winning. Sure, as time has gone on, we've seen a number of Baylor quarterbacks post similar -- if not better -- numbers, but at the time Griffin's numbers couldn't be ignored. Luck, Ball and Richardson all had very good seasons, but I'm not sure there was a player in the country who changed games the way Mathieu seemed to on a weekly basis.

The Honey Badger seemed to be at the center of every big play the LSU defense made that season; whether he was picking off a pass, forcing a fumble, recovering a fumble or taking a punt to the house. I think the one thing that killed his chances was the fact he only had two interceptions, and it's so easy for people to judge a defensive back solely on interceptions that voters overlooked how Mathieu's impact.

3. Champ Bailey, Georgia, 1998: This was another season where I don't have much of a beef with the Heisman winner, even if I do believe Ricky Williams received the award as more for career achievement rather than the single season. Behind Williams were a bunch of quarterbacks -- Michael Bishop, Cade McNown, Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper -- who had good seasons, but they just shouldn't have finished ahead of Bailey.

Bailey not only was a great defensive player, but he did things non-defensive players are supposed to do to win the Heisman. He finished the 1998 season with 744 yards and five touchdowns receiving, as well as another 300 yards on kick and punt returns. Oh, and, you know, he was a shutdown corner.

To this day, I remain convinced that Bailey suffered in the voting simply because voters didn't want to give a defensive player the Heisman two years in a row after Michigan's Charles Woodson won in 1997.

2. Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma, 1974: When you look at Archie Griffin's numbers in '74, they won't blow you away when comparing them to what we see today. His 1,695 rushing yards led the nation, even if his 12 touchdowns were only good enough to finish 10th, but he did it at Ohio State, and that clearly helped.

Meanwhile, down in Oklahoma, there was a defensive tackle annihilating offenses on a weekly basis. Lee Roy Selmon finished the 1974 season with 125 tackles and 18 sacks. Now, keep in mind, Selmon had 18 sacks in 11 games for the national champions in an era when teams weren't dropping back and passing all day.

Want to know how many Heisman votes Selmon received after that season? Not a single damn one. Two other defensive players, including fellow Sooner Rod Shoate did (Maryland's Randy White was the other), but Selmon did not.

Michigan quarterback Dennis Franklin, who finished with 933 yards passing and 290 yards rushing, accounted for 13 touchdowns (8 passing, 5 rushing) with five interceptions, received six first-place votes. But Selmon's 125 tackles and 18 sacks in 11 games couldn't even get a third-place vote.

1. Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 2009: I might have put Selmon first, but I wasn't alive in 1974 to witness to his domination. I can only go off the statistics.

I was alive to see another defensive tackle from a school in what originally was the Big 8 dominate an entire season, only to fall short in the Heisman voting, and Suh is that player.

If ever there was a year when I believe a defensive player deserved the award and was robbed, it's Suh in 2009. He single-handedly destroyed offensive game plans, and nearly carried Nebraska to a Big 12 title by himself.

Suh finished the '09 season with 83 tackles, 12 sacks and an interception, but the stats don't tell the entire story. He owned games, yet finished fourth in Heisman voting.

Instead, Mark Ingram became the first Alabama player to win the award, and while I have nothing against him, Ingram won Suh's Heisman.

Honorable Mention: Ronnie Lott, 1980, USC; Steve Emtman, Washington, 1991; Roy Williams, Oklahoma, 2001; Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina, 2012