Who are the leaders in the race for the 2019 Heisman Trophy?
Top Heisman Contenders After Week 5 Are …
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It’s becoming one of the most amazing Heisman races of all-time with several early contenders who would all be the runaway No. 1 options in most years. With the big games coming up, the showdowns are coming.
This can and will wildly change in a hurry, but if the Heisman voting was done right now …
Player of Week 5 (outside of the five main guys on this list)
DE Julian Okwara, Notre Dame
The Irish pass rush dominated Virginia with Okwara and Khalid Kareem combining for 5.5 sacks. Okwara came up with three sacks, two forced fumbles – with one being scooped for a score – and a fumble recovery in the 35-20 win over the Cavaliers.
5 Players On The Radar …
In alphabetical order.
RB JK Dobbins, Ohio State
QB Jake Fromm, Georgia
RB Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State
WR Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
DE Chase Young, Ohio State
5. QB Joe Burrow, LSU
It’s funny how quickly everyone forgets that LSU once had very, very good NFL-caliber quarterbacking talents JaMarcus Russell, Zach Mettenberger and Rohan Davey, but Burrow is looking and playing like someone who’ll have a far better next-level career than those three.
The LSU defense has been underwhelming so far, but it hasn’t needed to be a rock with the offense is putting up 58 points per game.
Burrow made his mark with the 471 yards against Texas, but he’s been razor-sharp against everyone so far, hitting over 80% of his passes for 1,520 yards and 17 touchdowns with two picks.
He’s clearly the No. 5 guy in the race, but that could change in a hurry. He gets Florida this week, Auburn at the end of October, and the trip to Alabama in early November. If LSU is still unbeaten on November 10th, and if he’s great until then, he might just be the front-runner.
NEXT: But could he do it on the road against a decent team?
4. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State
Justin Herbert has yet to throw an interception. Jake Fromm hasn’t given one up, either, and Tua Tagovailoa has been mistake-free. That’s hardly a shocker.
If you were to tell Ohio State fans before the season that we’d be going into October and Justin Fields has yet to throw an interception …
Go ahead and finish that thought any way you’d like.
What more could you possible ask for out of the guy?
The Buckeyes are 5-0 in dominant fashion, and their starting quarterback is hitting 70% of his passes for 1,092 yards and 16 touchdowns with no picks, to go along with his seven rushing scores.
It’s a brilliant start to the year that he’s making look way too easy. He went on the road in two Big Ten games and was flawless – beating Indiana and Nebraska – but now comes the real test when Michigan State comes to Columbus.
Keep doing this against that defense, and he’ll be firmly entrenched in the Heisman mix the rest of the way.
NEXT: Another week, another 100-yard game …
3. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
No, he doesn’t lead the nation in rushing – Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard is crushing it, averaging 187 yards per game – but he doesn’t have the pressure on him to carry the offense like Taylor does.
Taylor came into the season needing to be amazing, and he’s been just that and more with a record-setting 203 yards and two scores against Michigan, over 100 yards in each of his first four games with eight touchdowns.
More than that, he’s worked on his game in two huge ways. The fumbling problems have stopped, and he’s more of a receiver now, catching nine passes or 85 yards and three scores. Okay, so that doesn’t make him Jerry Jeudy quite yet, but at least there’s another element teams have to worry about.
There weren’t any flashy runs against Northwestern, but that wasn’t a flashy game. It was a 60-minute grind, and he still came up with a tough 119 yards on 26 carries.
It’s all setting up for what’s coming soon. The Kent State game won’t be any big deal, but can he do anything against the brick wall of a Michigan State defense? If so, the date at Ohio State will be the showcase of showcase games in the Heisman chase.
NEXT: Okay, so it helps when your No. 3 guy is good enough to catch five touchdown passes in a game, but …
2. QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
He’s even better than you think he is.
Other quarterbacks are putting up ridiculously flashy stats, and most quarterbacks could only dream of throwing to the NFL talents on the Alabama roster, but Tagovailoa is doing absolutely everything right.
He has yet to throw an interception with 23 touchdown passes, two rushing scores, and all while hitting 76% of his passes.
Granted, South Carolina and Ole Miss are the two toughest teams he’s had to face – Duke and Southern Miss aren’t that bad, though – but he’s ripping them to shreds.
South Carolina and Ole Miss are real SEC teams with real SEC talents, and he hit them 962 yards and 11 touchdowns in the two games.
The big games are coming.
At the very least, games against Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas will get national pub, and then comes the shot at taking the Heisman lead when LSU comes to town.
Until then, he’ll just keep being brilliant.
NEXT: Eventually, though, he’ll have to play against a good team
1. QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
Jalen Hurts threw an interception.
The pick in the 55-16 win over Texas Tech has been the only blemish in an otherwise unbelievable first four games. Not only is Hurts rocking and rolling better than any quarterback in the history of college football – at least statistically over the first month – but he looks like he was made for the role of the Lincoln Riley starting quarterback.
Deadly accurate, he’s hitting 78% of his passes for close to 1,300 yards and 12 scores – three in each game so far – with just that one blip. He’s connecting on big play after big play after big play, and that includes with his legs, too, rushing for 443 yards and five scores averaging over nine yards per carry.
However, before assuming this is a Heisman done deal, he has yet to beat a team that’s likely to go bowling.
But or now, his passer efficiency rating of 249.85 is off-the-charts. How good is it? Jos Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa have been amazing, and they’re around 225. Last season Tagovailoa finished up as the nation’s most efficient passer with a 199.44.
