The heisman trophy is one of the most prestigious awards in all of college football and is awarded to the “most outstanding college football player” in the NCAA division 1 (or FBS). Every year, 5 players are selected to visit New York City for the heisman ceremony, where one lucky star will get to take home the hardware, as voted on by sports journalists, former heisman winners, and the fans. The finalists are actually set to be announced on Monday, December 9th for this year’s award.
Today, this analyst will give you his ballot for the heisman, even though I don’t currently have a vote. We’ll take a look at previous history on the heisman to build our case for these 5, as well as look at stats to see if a case can be built for each one, and I’ve ranked them in order that I would place my vote for them. Without further ado, here is number 5:
5 – Harold Fannin JR, Tight End, Bowling Green
In the history of the heisman, only two winners (Larry Kelley in 1936 and Leon Hart in 1949) have come from the tight end position, so in order to have a tight end win the award, there must be something special about him. Harold’s statistics are off the chart this year: 100 catches, 1,342 yards, 9 touchdowns through the air, along with 8 carries for 57 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground as well.
Sitting at second in overall receiving yards and catches amongst all players this season, Harold Fannin has been putting up video game numbers for a tight end. In fact, it’s why I think he can be a first round pick at the NFL level; you can read more about him in my previous article from October here!
Ultimately though, tight ends would have to not only put up video game numbers, but also lead their team to a much better record than 7-5(Bowling Green’s record this season), so as much as I love Harold Fannin JR, I think this is his ceiling in heisman voting, if he even makes the ballot at all this year.
4- Shedeur Sanders, QB, University of Colorado
3 – Cam Ward, QB, University of Miami
Historically, the Heisman award is a quarterback driven award, as 36 quarterbacks have won the prestigious trophy, with Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders QB, formerly of LSU) having won it most recently in 2023. In fact, since 2014 have seen the Heisman won by a QB 8 out of the past 10 years (Derrick Henry at RB in 2015 and Devonta Smith at WR in 2020.), so it stands to reason that QBs may garner more votes than other positions.
Since these two are so close on my NFL Draft Big Board, and most pundits have them side by side in the NFL Draft, I’ve elected to group them together, as I think they could be interchangeable on a lot of voters ballots. First, Shedeur Sanders has put up one heck of a season for the buffaloes, both statistically and in terms of big plays and moments as well.
3,926 yards, 35 touchdowns versus 8 interceptions, all on a 74.2% completion percentage are numbers you can’t sneeze at. His game at Baylor where he lead the Buffs to a win in overtime on a Hail Mary is likely his best moment and his best game would have been his most recent versus Oklahoma State (82.9% completion percentage with 438 yards passing and 5 touchdowns in a 52-0 blowout win).
However, this year there is a QB who has had bigger comebacks and ranks higher statistically versus Shedeur. That is Cam Ward, the University of Miami signal caller.
4,123 yards, 36 touchdowns versus 7 interceptions, with a 60.4% completion percentage are eyepopping numbers for Ward. In two contests this season (versus Ball State and Duke) Cam threw for over 300 yards and 5 touchdowns, on his way to wins in each of those games.
His game on 10-05-2024 versus the Cal Golden Bears is the shining moment that caught this analyst’s eye, as Cam rallied Miami from being down by 25 points to comeback and win the game, 39-38, including his final touchdown pass that day with less than 30 seconds left. With all of that said, you’d think that these two would be the heisman front runners, however there are two players ahead of them both that this analyst believes are head and shoulder above the remainder of the field.
2- Travis Hunter, CB/WR, University of Colorado
What Travis Hunter has done this season has been nothing short of superhuman. 92 catches, 1,152 yards, 14 touchdowns on offense ALONE. Add in his defensive statistics (31 tackles, 11 pass deflections, and 4 interceptions) and his numbers alone build a case to put him here in the top two selections.
However, the biggest knock against Travis is the historical perspective. In the past, there has only been 1 heisman winner from the defensive side of the ball: Charles Woodson in 1997. Charles was predominately a defensive back, but also played wide receiver and returned kicks for the University of Michigan.
His stats at cornerback: 43 tackles, 7 interceptions on defense, 231 yards and 2 touchdowns on catches, and 1 touchdown on the ground. In addition, Charles also had a punt return touchdown versus Ohio State in 1997 that is the stuff of legend, as he took it 77 yards to the house.
Many folks believe that Hunter is a better version of Woodman, and I agree in some aspects. But there are some things that hurt Hunter’s case as well:
- Shedeur Sanders Candidacy: Often times, teams having two heisman candidates hurt each other, rather than prop each other up. Voters could ask “What if Hunter’s QB wasn’t Shedeur? Would he still have the production he has?”
- Stat padding questions: Some folks in the media have mentioned stat padding in some of Hunter’s games, and it’s a legitimate argument. This Colorado team threw the ball 459 times this season. More attempts mean more bites at the apple for Hunter to garner statistical value in the eyes of Heisman Voters.
For some, the dreaded “snap counts conversation” has been the crutch to stand on when building a case for or against Hunter. Ultimately, it’s a combination of the three: Historical Perspective amongst voters, his team sending two candidates, and stat padding questions that push him just slightly below my top heisman candidate, and the player I think should take home the hardware this season.
1- Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State University
Listen, I know that the running back position is devalued at all levels of football (College/NFL). I also know that history does not look favorably on a running back winning this award (4 times a running back was named heisman winner since 1999.)
Remember when I talked about QBs, and how the last heisman winner at running back was Derrick Henry back in 2015. Just look at his stats from that time frame:
395 carries, 2219 yards, and 28 touchdowns rushing, as well as 11 catches for 91 yards receiving.
Now let’s flip the script, and look at Ashton Jeanty’s Numbers:
344 carries, 2,497 yards,and 29 touchdowns rushing, as well as 20 catches for 116 yards and 1 touchdown.
Statistically, Ashton Jeanty is nearing Barry Sanders’ NCAA Single Season rushing record (2,628 yards) and can break that record with a solid outing in his first game in the College Football Playoff, of which Boise State is expected to be a part of.
Just astronomical numbers for the Broncos star. Just consider that he scored at least 1 touchdown in every game this season, except for 1. In fact, there were 7 games where he scored at least 2 touchdowns this season, including multiple 3 touchdown games, a 4 touchdown game, and a 6 touchdown game in the season opener.
Consider this: Prior to Sunday’s NFL Slate, Ashton Jeanty has more rushing yards than all 32 NFL teams BY HIMSELF. He has the same amount of touchdowns as the Cowboys, Vikings, Browns, Jets and Titans COMBINED.
Ultimately, this analyst thinks that Jeanty has done enough to win the heisman award with an insane season. However, from a historical perspective, if he were to break Barry Sanders’ rushing record, that would all but lock the Heisman in for Ashton Jeanty, even with Travis Hunter’s stellar year.
Final Heisman Ballot:
Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
Travis Hunter, CB/WR, University of Colorado
Cam Ward, QB, University of Miami
Shedeur Sanders, QB, University of Colorado
Harold Fannin JR, TE, Bowling Green
There you have it folks, how I see this Heisman race shaking out. Obviously this could change once the finalists are announced on Monday, December 9th, but if I had a Heisman vote, this is how I would cast my ballot.
As always, share this content with all of your friends, and if you like or dislike my content, feel free to come find me on “X” @sparkscouting and let’s have a discourse discussion. You can also find me on YouTube with the Draft Professor and the Misses are Relevant podcast, where we talk all things NFL and NFL Draft as well!
