Heisman Hopefuls

Now a month into the season, the contenders will begin to separate themselves from the pretenders. The gauntlet of conference games shows a program's true identity; it is time to sink or swim. Week 4 in college football made me more excited for the remainder of the year. Several conferences are wide open, something we haven’t seen often in recent years. One could confidently bet on Clemson, Ohio State, and Alabama to win their conferences but not anymore. It is time for the best players to take over, widening the gap from the rest of the field.

Every winter a panel of “expert” analysts cast their votes on who the most outstanding player in college football is. This award has become a race between quarterbacks on winning teams - the last time a non QB won that didn’t go to Alabama was in 1999. Test your trivia knowledge, who was the player? Answer is here. I share this to provide insight on my rationale as to why I have chosen the players below. Quarterbacks find themselves in New York and I would be foolish to not make my selections quarterback heavy. Come on people, Stetson Bennett had a solid year in a perfect situation. In no way should he have been invited to the Heisman ceremony over Bijan Robinson. Apparently 1,894 all purpose yards with 20 touchdowns doesn’t cut it anymore.

1. Michael Penix Jr.

   1. Has there been a more impressive team through the first month? 199 points in the first 4 weeks is worthy of recognition, led by the former Hoosier under center. A remarkable turnaround considering he finished his time at Indiana with a 59% completion percentage and touchdown / interception ratio of under 2. His debut year at Washington was no fluke; the Huskies will find themselves fighting for a playoff spot until the end of the season. The nation's leader in quarterback rating is also my leader in the Heisman race.

2. Caleb Williams

   1. The Trojans quarterback is a scary talent and will receive plenty of votes. History isn’t fond of declaring repeat winners as Archie Griffin is the only one to do so. Williams has a legitimate shot to outperform his 2022 self; without him USC might be a 7 win team. Caleb Williams is the best player in the country, but expect the voting committee to share the love and pick someone else this year. After all, Caleb Williams will just keep coming back to college until he is in a position to get drafted to his dream scenario; maybe he comes back and will get another chance to win it. I’m sure he can get a few extra votes for having the cutest nails.

3. Bo Nix

   1. In what world are the top 3 Heisman candidates all in the PAC12? None of these programs will even be in the conference next year, what a great time to become the superior Power 5. Isn’t it crazy he made his collegiate debut against Justin Herbert centuries ago? These veteran signal callers are setting the tone, an inevitable result from the uptick in transfers. Mr. Heisman is my favorite player at the time of writing this; he dismantled the Colorado hype train (before you cry about me being a hater, be sure to listen to our segment of the game on this week's podcast). Give me the Ducks to keep scoring in masses, keeping the mascot exhausted weekly from push ups. Still as high as +1200 odds to win the award, you won’t be able to deny Bo much longer if they keep this up.

4. Jayden Daniels

   1. In what is my hottest take of the article, give me the LSU quarterback. He has streaks of being inconsistent but when he is on, there are few players I would prefer to lead my offense this year. I understand their game against Arkansas was ugly, but Daniels got points on the board in each of their last 6 drives of the game, saving the Tigers season. He is on pace to account for 49 touchdowns this season, twenty more than a year ago, and that improvement shouldn’t go unnoticed. I’ll leave the detailed team analysis to our Prince Peyton, but if they patch some holes up, Daniels will earn the titles of SEC West champion and top quarterback in the conference.

5. Max Johnson

   1. Aggies country, let’s ride. Even if Conner returns soon, shoutout to negative x-rays, Max should have the country shivering in their boots after his performance last Saturday. Dominant showing and he connected with his brother for a score? It’s a good thing I don’t get a vote or this man would have another item in his trophy shelf. Jokes aside, hell of a performance coming in due to Weigman’s injury. Offense looked flat prior and buddy got things clicking. If there is one thing I have learned about football, the next best luxury besides having a good line is a backup quarterback who can get it done.

The Texas Rangers hold a 2.5 game lead on the Houston Astros as I write this. I will see you all next week when we have blown the division lead. God bless.