Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and defensive end Chase Young will join front-runner Joe Burrow at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York on Saturday.
They were among the four finalists for the award announced Monday, along with Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Burrow, the Louisiana State quarterback who spent his first three college seasons at Ohio State before transferring as a graduate and playing two seasons for the Tigers, is considered the heavy favorite.
If the season ended now, Burrow would hold the Football Bowl Subdivision single-season record for completion percentage at 77.9%, ahead of former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who completed 76.7% of his passes in 2008.
While leading unbeaten LSU to its first Southeastern Conference football championship in more than a decade, as well as the top seed for the College Football Playoff, Burrow threw for 4,715 yards and 48 touchdowns with six interceptions in his final year of college eligibility.
Burrow could receive the highest percentage of points ever in the voting. Former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who received 91.63% in 2006, the current all-time high.
Fields, a sophomore, mounted perhaps the most compelling case after Burrow with a 40-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, the best in the nation, and helping the Buckeyes secure a berth in the College Football Playoff after a two-season absence. Ohio State is seeded second.
But some Fields' volume statistics trail previous Heisman Trophy winners.
Since Smith, every quarterback to capture the award has thrown for at least 3,000 yards or run for 1,000 yards.
Through 13 games, Fields has completed 67.5% of his passes for 2,953 yards and run for 471 yards and 10 touchdowns.
During the final weeks of the regular season, Ohio State coach Ryan Day mentioned that Fields was short-changed some snaps because the Buckeyes were so often leading teams by wide margins in the second half of games, prompting them to sit their starters and play backups.
Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins, the nation's third-leading rusher, faced a similar obstacle. He was not included among the finalists.
"Maybe they haven't had as many reps or opportunities as some of the other guys in the country," Day said last week. "Their efficiency on the field to me has been the best in the country."
Young, the Buckeyes' star pass rusher, led the nation with 16.5 sacks and mounted a rare candidacy as a defensive player, but his momentum was stalled when the junior was suspended for two games last month related to an NCAA rules violation and did not record a sack in the final two games.
No pure defensive player has ever won the Heisman Trophy since it was established in 1935.
But he gives the Buckeyes their second player at the ceremony. The last school to feature two players was Oklahoma in 2016 when both quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Dede Westbrook were present.
