Our friends at USA TODAY put out a weekly Heisman Watch piece that polls several writers from within the company. The poll consists of actual Heisman voters that work in the USA TODAY Sports Network. There are 21 panelists in all, and each is asked to provide their first, second, and third place votes as it stands after each week of the college football season.
Just like the real thing … only smaller.
And while there has been a trio of Buckeyes show in the poll in some inglorious way so far this year, they are starting to lose momentum. Quarterback Justin Fields had been the most likely to win it with several votes appearing weekly, but running back J.K. Dobbins and even defensive-end Chase Young have also been on the radar somewhere throughout the first-half of the season.
But that all seems to be changing. Justin Fields has dropped down significantly and isn’t seen as a legitimate contender to the trio of Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, or even LSU’s Joe Burrow — at least, as it stands right now. Significantly behind those three is Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor.
It’s really a two-person race a the moment with Hurts and Tagovailoa garnering the most points at 51 and 40 respectively, and then there’s a drop off with Burrow receiving 22 points. Fields is a distant fifth in the polling with just 5 total points, and no other Buckeye appears among the votes tallied this past week.
Before you get too upset with all this trending, remember that there’s still plenty of time left in the season and many bigger games and national audiences to impress. Guys like Leonard Fournette of LSU in 2015, and Saquon Barkley of Penn State in 2017 were near shoe-ins midway through past seasons only to be overtaken easily when all the dust settled.
It’s likely however, that the balanced offense and multiple weapons Ohio State has at its disposal could be a detriment when it comes to a guy in Scarlet and Gray winning the most prestigious individual award in American sports.
