In less than six months, a new Heisman Trophy winner will be crowned in college football.
Over the last month, we have ranked the top five Heisman candidates in each Power 5 conference and in the Group of 5. Now, we’ve narrowed the list of candidates down to determine the top five players in college football capable of winning the award.
Seven of the last eight Heisman winners have been quarterbacks. Additionally, 15 of the 17 winners since 2000 have been quarterbacks.
However, this feels like the year of the running back. There are still several quality quarterbacks throughout the country, but the volume of elite running backs is more profound.
Top Five Heisman Candidates
- Will Grier, West Virginia
If Grier can stay healthy, he fits the criteria for a Heisman Trophy candidate. Grier will have plenty of opportunities to put up big numbers in Dana Holgorsen’s offense. He threw for about 3,500 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions a season ago in 11 games. The Mountaineers have several weapons offensively; Grier and receiver David Sills had great chemistry throughout last season.
Will Grier when targeting the middle of the field pic.twitter.com/ctZttyu5cM
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 27, 2018
The only thing that could hold Grier back is West Virginia’s relevance on a national level. If the Mountaineers are a contender in the Big 12, Grier will likely be the reason why and he will be in the mix for the Heisman. But if West Virginia is a 7-8 win team again, it’s unrealistic to expect Grier to emerge as a Heisman candidate.
Grier will have impressive stats as long as he’s on the field. If he can steer his team towards the top of the Big 12, he has a chance to contend for the sport’s most prestigious award.
- Bryce Love, Stanford
Love’s spectacular 2017 season fell just short of winning a Heisman thanks to Baker Mayfield. Nevertheless, Love still is back for more after opting to return for his senior season at Stanford. He rushed for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago. Love is considered to be one of the favorites to win the Heisman entering the 2018 season.
Stanford relied on Love to do pretty much everything offensively last year. He carried the ball 263 times, and he still managed to average over eight yards per carry.
Love will be asked to do more of the same throughout his senior season. He wore down towards the end of the year; however, he still carried the ball 20-plus times in the final three games of the season. Stanford players have fallen just short of winning the Heisman in the last decade. Love could become the next Stanford player to barely miss out on winning the Heisman.
- Khalil Tate, Arizona
It took until October before Tate became the starter at Arizona. Coincidentally, the Wildcats’ season turned around when he took over the job.
Arizona was 2-2 in September, and Tate only played sparingly. During a road game at Colorado, Tate burst onto the scene, rushing for 327 yards and four touchdowns on only 14 carriers. He also completed 12 of 13 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. On the year, Tate rushed for over 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns while throwing for 15,91 yards and 14 scores.
Tate’s numbers tailed off towards the end of the year, and he was an erratic passer at times. So why is there optimism for the 2018 season? For starters, Tate has a full offseason to work on his passing. Furthermore, new coach Kevin Sumlin has plenty of experience working with dual-threat quarterbacks. Sumlin will run everything through Tate offensively, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to light up the scoreboard.
Love and Tate are both capable of winning the award even if they aren’t on championship contenders. For the first time since 2010 (Andrew Luck and LaMichael James), there could be two Pac-12 Heisman finalists in New York in December.
- J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State
Dobbins burst onto the scene in Ohio State’s season opener against Indiana in his first career collegiate game. He rushed 29 times for 181 yards, and it the beginning of a terrific freshman campaign. Dobbins rushed for 1,403 yards and seven touchdowns on only 194 carries.
To win the Heisman, Dobbins will need to increase his touchdown total in 2018. J.T. Barrett took some of those goal line touchdowns away from Dobbins last year. This year, those carries will likely be given to Dobbins. He’s an explosive back who’s capable of taking any carry the distance. If Urban Meyer relies on him the way he should, Dobbins will have a monstrous season.
- Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin back is one of the Heisman favorites for a reason. As a freshman, Taylor rushed for 1,977 yards and 13 touchdowns. He carried the ball 299 times last year, and he’ll probably have about the same number of carries this season. Wisconsin is known for running the ball, and Taylor will have every opportunity to earn himself an invite to New York.
Jonathan Taylor's 4.53 average yards after contact per attempt is good enough for 6th among returning RBs pic.twitter.com/Nmq04OCjjw
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 23, 2018
Another thing working in Taylor’s favor is that his team should contend for a Big 10 title and possibly a playoff berth. The Badgers were 13-1 a season ago. If they have a similar season, it will give Taylor more chances to impress Heisman voters in big games. It’s tougher for running backs to win the award than quarterbacks. However, it will be difficult to ignore Taylor if he rushes for over 2,000 yards on a championship contender.
