The Athletic’s Heisman straw ballot is greedy at, um, concepts. Throwing stuff on the wall. Darts, even.
Jaxson Dart, welcome. The Ole Pass over quarterback makes his debut this year with a second-place vote later throwing for 199 yards and operating for fifty on a bum ankle in a program-defining win over Georgia. Bryson Day-to-day, welcome. The Military quarterback additionally seems, grabbing a couple of third-place votes later operating for 153 yards and two touchdowns at North Texas to store his crew unbeaten and within the School Soccer Playoff race.
That makes 5 quarterbacks a few of the 9 avid gamers who gained votes this year, and that sounds about proper. Except for that none of them fee as critical contenders for the award, no longer in response to our vote casting, no longer at this level.
You’ve were given to walk again to 2015, the age Alabama operating again Derrick Henry received it over Stanford operating again Christian McCaffrey, to discover a pre-Thanksgiving puddle of contenders with no quarterback making a major push. The one alternative non-quarterback winner since after was once Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020, and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was once in there till the tip (in the end dropping 1,856 to at least one,187).
We’re at the cusp of a 3rd non-quarterback winner within the future 10 years. And for this day of soccer? That’s a nice-looking excellent decade for non-quarterbacks.
Miami’s disillusioned loss at Georgia Tech did critical harm within the straw ballot to Miami quarterback Cam Ward’s momentum. He was once the only sign caller putting with Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter — the ballot chief by way of a rising margin — and Boise Situation operating again Ashton Jeanty. That loss dropped Ward from 41 issues to 13, from 25 ballots to ten, from 0.33 position to fourth, at the back of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (one first-place vote, 14 issues).
The Athletic follows the similar vote casting protocol as that of the Heisman: 3 issues for a first-place vote, 2 issues for a second-place vote, 1 level for a third-place vote. Hunter overtook first position a year in the past and had a thin 57-51 manage over Jeanty, however that’s as much as a margin of 69-54. Hunter went up from 12 first-place votes to 18, and Jeanty went ailing from 11 first-place votes to 8 — even later Jeanty ran for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns in opposition to Nevada.
| Participant | Group | Pos | 1st | second | third | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Travis Hunter | WR/CB | 18 | 7 | 1 | 69 | |
Ashton Jeanty | RB | 8 | 13 | 4 | 54 | |
Dillon Gabriel | QB | 1 | 1 | 9 | 14 | |
Cam Ward | QB | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | |
Kurtis Rourke | QB | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Bryson Day-to-day | QB | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
Jaxson Dart | QB | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Kaleb Johnson | RB | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Tyler Warren | TE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Hunter had 9 catches for 99 yards and a landing in a comeback win at Texas Tech, and he reminded everybody of his dominance on protection with an acrobatic interception, taken off the board by way of a Colorado offsides penalty. The Buffs are in a major hunt for the Weighty 12 name — and a top-four seed and School Soccer Playoff bye that might most likely include it — and that are supposed to be a big spice up for Hunter. A spice up totally unexpected only some weeks in the past.
Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke is the 5th quarterback within the ballot, and he won rather from terminating year, sitting in 5th position with 6 issues. Rourke and the Hoosiers had been their dominant selves Saturday within the first part of a win over Michigan, after sputtered for the primary era all season and hung on for a 20-15 win. A gaudy stat series and rout would have helped him extra, after all.
He does have Nov. 23 at Ohio Situation forward. Day-to-day has Nov. 23 in opposition to Notre Dame. Gabriel has an anticipated Weighty Ten name recreation. Ward has a hopeful ACC name recreation. And Dart is like maximum quarterbacks within the SEC in that it’s imaginable he may just play games within the league name recreation.
Alternatives are scarce. The quarterbacks are about finished. So The Athletic citizens are throwing names round. How about Penn Situation tight finish Tyler Warren? He were given a third-place vote, identical to Iowa operating again Kaleb Johnson, and the ones two are available join for 8th.
BYU kicker Will “Big Game Bill” Ferrin were given an honorable point out later his grab efficiency to store BYU unbeaten on the expense of rival Utah. Ole Pass over linebacker Suntarine Perkins was once into consideration for a vote, didn’t get it, however he merits a point out, too.
Enough quantity of others have earned that, no less than. How about Tennessee operating again Dylan Sampson? Or Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, a man who were given a quantity of votes early, later what he did to LSU?
The puddle of avid gamers with a shot at Unutilized York is also increasing. The listing of true contenders seems to be ailing to 2, on its technique to one.
(Photograph of Ashton Jeanty: Loren Orr / Getty Photographs)
