I’ll start by saying Jameis Winston is an immensely talented
quarterback, and if you want to talk about just talent alone, he will absolutely
translate to the NFL whenever he decides to enter the draft. Usually after the first month of the season
it’s fair to begin to assess legitimacy of some Heisman hopefuls. In the first month, we’ve seen another Jameis
Winston off-the-field incident. Running
backs Ameer Abdullah from Nebraska, Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon, and Todd Gurley of Georgia are all averaging over seven yards per carry.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is completing almost 75 percent of his
passes, averages close to 300 passing
yards per game, and is on pace to rush for around 900 yards as well.
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| Jeff Romance Jameis Winston has his work cut out for him if he wants to win a second straight Heisman trophy. |
So what am I saying? Forget about the fact that Jameis
Winston missed Florida State’s victory against Clemson. Arche Griffin is the only man to ever win
back-to-back Heisman trophies and I’m starting to see why it’s so hard. I’m not trying to take anything away from
Winston, but the odds are heavily against him.
Breakout performances like those of Gordon, Gurley, Abdullah, and
Mariota are bound to happen in college football each season. As a matter of fact, recently the Heisman has
been a way of introducing America to the next big thing in football. Who knew who Cam Newton was before he won the
Heisman? The same can be said for Robert
Griffin III and Johnny Manziel.
Players
like Gordon, Gurley, Abdullah, and Mariota aren’t quite in this group as all
have been featured on their teams in recent years but never have had the kind
of success they’re off to season.
There are just too many talented college football
players. Whether or not all of them
translate to the NFL is a different story.
But after a month of the season, I can say confidently that I don’t
think Jameis Winston will win the Heisman trophy. Melvin Gordon was my pick before the season
started. I would like to see Gordon,
Abdullah, or Gurley win to end the running back drought. If you don’t count Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram
is the only running back to win the Heisman in the 21st
century. But even if you buy the
quarterback bias, I still think the odds are against Winston.
I already mentioned Mariota and UCLA quarterback Brett
Hundley and Baylor’s Bryce Petty will remain in conversation if their teams
keep winning. Who knows? Maybe Kenny
Hill even has a chance to make it two of the last three years for a Texas
A&M first-year starting quarterback to win the Heisman. While it’s been 23 years since Desmond Howard
was the last wide receiver to win, Alabama’s Amari Cooper needs to be
considered. Amongst all these worthy
candidates, it’s very hard for the same one to emerge two years in a row. Jameis Winston was by far the best player in
college football last season. It’s not
that easy this time around.
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