Who are the leaders in the race for the 2019 Heisman Trophy?
Top Heisman Contenders After Week 2 Are …
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If you don’t have the stats, you can’t and won’t win the Heisman.
If you don’t have the big performances in the big games, you can’t and won’t win the Heisman – and that’s the issue for the Clemson stars.
Trevor Lawrence and Travie Etienne might be two of the nation’s best players, but that might have been it – they likely won’t get a chance to play against a strong team the rest of the way.
This can and will wildly change in a hurry, but if the Heisman voting was done right now …
Player of Week 2 (outside of the five main guys on this list)
QB Kedon Slovis, USC
The true freshman stepped up in the 45-20 win over Stanford completing 28-of-33 passes for 377 yards and three score with no picks, and with 12 rushing yards.
5 Players On The Radar …
In alphabetical order.
RB JK Dobbins, Ohio State
RB Travis Etienne, Clemson
WR Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
RB DeAndre Swift, Georgia
5. QB Joe Burrow, LSU
All of a sudden, with a little tweak to the offense to open things up a bit, LSU has itself a superstar passer.
Time and again in the 45-38 win over Texas, Burrow kept pressing against a terrific secondary full of all-stars and NFL prospects to make an emphatic statement in the Heisman and College Football Playoff chases.
With his accuracy and his 6-4, 216-pound size, he’s rising up on the pro prospect charts, too.
Yeah, he threw an interception, but he also completed 31 of his other 38 passes for 471 yards and four scores, all while providing the attitude and swagger on a team loaded with both of those things.
Throw in the 55-3 win over Georgia Southern, and so far this season he has completed 82% of his passes for 749 yards and nine touchdowns with a pick.
NEXT: That was good once, but …
4. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State
It’s so easy to forget that he’s just getting started as a starting quarterback for a team with national championship aspirations.
There were some concerns that Fields might struggle right out of the box – with expectations through the roof and with the pressure on to be great right away.
18-of-25 for 234 yards and four touchdowns, to go along with 61 rushing yards and a score, in the win over Florida Atlantic.
But how was he going to do against a Cincinnati team with a terrific defense and the toughness to give the Buckeyes problems?
20-of-25, 224 yards, two touchdowns, and 42 rushing yards and two scores in the 42-0 blowout.
Nothing short of flawless so far, he’s hitting 76% of his passes with six touchdowns and, best of all for a team that wants to come out hot, no picks.
NEXT: Making the brilliant look routine …
3. QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
Yeah, so far he did it against Duke and New Mexico State, and yes, he might have the best receiving corps in the country to work with – or a close second behind Clemson’s crew – but remember, he expected to be amazing every time out.
And he is.
There were a few misfires against the Aggies – completing “just” 16-of-24 passes – but the 75-yard Henry Ruggs touchdown to open things up was technically counted as a run, even though Tagovailoa threw it to him.
563 passing yards, 76% accuracy, seven touchdowns, no picks, over ten yards per throw, and a rushing touchdown.
Ho hum … the brilliant has become routine.
NEXT: And he’s rested, too …
2. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
What’s best about the start is that 1) Wisconsin won its first two games by a combined score of 110-0, which means 2) its superstar doesn’t need to be pushed too much.
Last season, Taylor started the season with 51 carries in his first two games, but this season he’s only run 35 times without taking any big shots. He’s averaging an okay 6.8 yards per carry, but that’s partially because some of those runs are around the goal line.
The fumbling issues of the first two seasons seem to have gone away, and he’s a part of the passing game with five grabs for 65 yards and three touchdowns.
The nation’s top running back – or close to it along with Clemson’s Travis Etienne – has rushed for 237 yards and five touchdowns so far in his two short work weeks, but now comes the real fun.
He gets two weeks off to rest up for Michigan.
NEXT: There wasn’t anything sloppy about this …
1. QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
It’s happening AGAIN.
The Lincoln Riley system keeps on rolling, making Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray two of the most efficient quarterbacks in college football history, and now, it’s Hurts.
It has only been two games so far, and they came against a suspect Houston defense and South Dakota from the FCS, but Hurts leads the nation in passing efficiency be 100 miles.
To put this into perspective, Tua Tagovailoa finished last season with an amazing 199.44 rating, and Mayfield won the Heisman at 198.92. At the moment, Joe Burrow is at a 219.11, which is just behind Hurts.
All the former Alabama star has done is earn a passer rating of an impossible 252.31.
It’s the dream start, completing 83% of his passes for 591 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions, while rushing for 223 yards and three scores.
The spotlight is on this week as he goes to Los Angeles to show off in the Rose Bowl against UCLA. The Bruins might be struggling, but the defense hasn’t been bad. In a bad week for marquee matchups, everyone will be watching.
