The Heisman Watch – Week 5

Four weeks are in the books. It’s time to take a start up the Heisman Watch. The Heisman is the most coveted award in college football. Annually, it’s awarded to basically only quarterbacks with the occasional running back sprinkled in the best college football player. Let’s take a look at the players that could hoist the heralded trophy and join college immortality/go on to be a bust in the NFL.

Crimson Tide QB Tua Tagovailoa (pic by @NCAAFNation247)

1. Tua Tagovailoa

He’s the best player on the best team. He’s putting up huge numbers and has a cool name. The Tide is scoring at a ridiculous rate, as this might be the best offense that Nick Saban has ever fielded. The stats: 1033 yds, 72.5% comp, 12 TDs, 0 ints. On top of that, here are some fun facts:

  • The Alabama offense has been on the field for a total of 118:41 this season.
  • Tagovailoa has only been on the field 58:16, or ~ 49% of the time.
  • He is 27th in the country in passing yards. If you doubled his playing time, he’d be leading the country by 300 yards.
  • He leads the country in yards/att (12.9).
  • He leads the country is passer rating (230.5).
  • All while playing HALF the amount of time.

And while all of that is nice, there was this:

That’s it, folks. Let’s pack up shop. Take him off the board, Vegas! Just go ahead and give him the Heisman after that performance. The Hawaiian Lion, indeed.

2. Handsome Will Grier

You need to possess certain qualities, if you are going to be a successful quarterback. Sure, a strong arm, pocket presence, command of the huddle, etc are all important. But if Tom Brady has taught us anything, it’s that a great quarterback must be handsome. And West Virginia QB Will Grier is that and then some. Consider that Grier is 11th in the country in passing yards with 1117. He’s 2nd (to Tua) in the country in passer rating at 215.8. He has the 5th most passing TDs in the country…all while playing one less game (due to the hurricane)! How do you think he did that? With hard work and dedication? Lol. He did it because he’s handsome. Grow up.

3. Dwayne Haskins

Ohio St had high hopes for QB Dwayne Haskins coming into the season. However, outside of Columbus, who would’ve thought that they would be this high? The sophomore out of Potomac, MD is putting up huge numbers across the board. He has the 2nd most passing touchdowns in the country with 16, and he’s 10th in passing yards with 1194. He’s 9th in the country in yards per attempt. And he’s 3rd (behind only Tua and Handsome Will Grier) in passer rating. So yeah, apparently he’s good. He will have a chance to have a “Heisman moment” this week, as the Buckeyes visit Happy Valley and Penn St in a whiteout game.

4. Jonathan Taylor

The Wisconsin superstar RB opened the year as on of the Heisman favorites. While he’s second in the nation in rushing with 628 yards and 12th with 5 TDs, his shot at winning has taken quite a dip. A huge part of that is when Wiscy went out and lost to 24-pt underdog BYU at HOME (lol). That probably killed the Badgers’ chances of making the playoffs, and Taylor’s chances to win the Heisman as well. He could still get there, but he’ll need a lot of help from the guys above him to play poorly.

Misericordia WR Sam Gillison

5. Sam Gillison

“Who th is Sam Gillison?” you might ask yourself. He’s a WR who plays for D3 Misericordia in Dallas, PA. “But this is a Heisman list!” It’s our list, man. We’ll do what we want.

Gillison helped lead Misericordia to consecutive wins for the first time in school history. His 8 receptions, 223 yards, and 3 touchdowns helped secure the Cougars’ victory over Wilkes. It’s a feel good story, as Sam missed all of his senior year of high school and 2017 with injuries. Congrats to Misericordia and congrats to Gillison for making our Heisman list.