Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon – With no returning Heisman winner, its going to be an open race for the Heisman. Gabriel is first on my list for many reasons. First, he has the best odds to win the Heisman, at +750. Second, he’s put up numbers across his career. From UCF to Oklahoma, Gabriel has thrown for 14,865 yards and 125 touchdowns. He’s also ran for 1,060 yards and 26 touchdowns. On top of that, he’s thrown just 26 interceptions in his college career, meaning he’s ran for the same number of touchdowns as he’s thrown picks in his career. Last year, Gabriel threw for 3,660 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 6 picks, along with 12 rushing touchdowns. He led Oklahoma to a 10-2 record, and has a 33-16 record across his career. He’s proven that he can win, especially at a high level. Third, He’s transferring into a good a position at Oregon. Gabriel has 2 top tier wide receivers, Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson, a great tight end in Terrence Ferguson, along with a good offensive line and a good defense. Lastly, Oregon is going to make a deep run this season. I predict Oregon is going to finish the regular season 11-1, win the Big Ten, and probably make a deep run in the CFP. You obviously have to be a winning team to win the Heisman, and Gabriel is looking to become Oregon’s second Heisman winner.
Carson Beck, QB, Georgia – Next up is Carson Beck, who was playing like a glorified game manager last season. He did throw for 3,941 yards, but only 24 touchdowns to 6 picks. He did run for 4 touchdowns, which is something Beck can build on this season. Georgia is losing some talent, as running backs Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton left for the NFL, and so did Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey. It is a big talent drop off for Georgia, but Dominic Lovett is staying at Georgia, and he led all wide receivers in yards last year. But the Dawgs do get a great transfer from former Florida running back Trevor Etienne. Etienne should help Beck out of the backfield as well. I do think the Beck hype is a little to high, but he has the whole season to prove me wrong. He won some big games last year, but he needs to do more to win the Heisman.
Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas – Ewers is probably the biggest name in college football outside of Boulder, Colorado. He was a 5 start high school recruit, left high school early to join Ohio State, who he signed with. He sat the first year before transferring to Texas in 2022. Although he played well. Throwing for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 6 picks, Texas only went 6-4 on his watch. He suffered an injury in Texas’ game against Alabama, and missed 3 games. He then took a big step-up last year, going 10-2, once again missing time with injury. He threw for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He led Texas to a conference title and an appearance in the College Football Playoff, even being named MVP for the conference title game. Ewers can defiantly perform, and with Isaiah Bond transferring in, Ewers will have another top receiver to throw to. My main concern is his health. Ewers needs to play a full season in order to lock down the Heisman. While he’s out, Gabriel or Beck could play very well, and pull ahead of Ewers in the Heisman race.
Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama – Milroe’s whole case for the Heisman can go out the window with one bad game this season. He was very inconsistent at times last season, even being benched against USF. That was coming off Alabama’s game at Texas, where Milroe completed just 52% of his passes for 255 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 picks. After being named the starter the next week, against Ole Miss, Milroe threw for 225 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Through both of those games, Milroe ran for a combined 72 yards. Milroe had another bad game later on, when he completed 47.6% of his passes against Arkansas, although he did have 3 touchdowns. However, Milroe did catch on fire later in the season. He ran for 155 and 4 touchdowns, leading Alabama to win of Jayden Daniels, who ended up winning the Heisman, and LSU. A week later, Milroe torched the Kentucky defense for 6 touchdowns, 3 on the ground and 3 through the air. Milroe finished the season with 2,834 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He also ran for 530 yards and 12 touchdowns. Milroe did play better as the season went on, but Bama had an easier schedule last year. If Milroe is once again inconsistent at the start of the year, Alabama could lose some games, and that will tank Milroe’s Heisman stock. That combined with a new head coach could cause turmoil for Jalen Milroe.
Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma State – Even though Ollie Gordon was arrested right before the start of July under suspicion of driving under the influence, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy already said that Gordon won’t miss anytime. That means that barring injuries, Gordon will have a full season to play and might even have a chance at 2,000 yards, and he would have the 30th most rushing yards in a FBS season if he just ran for 2,000. He would also be the first FBS player to run for 2,000 yards since Chuba Hubbard, another Oklahoma State running back, Malcolm Perry of Navy, J.K. Dobbins of Ohio State, and Johnathan Taylor of Wisconsin ran for more than 2,000 yards all the way back in 2019. Gordon has a good chance at doing this, as he had 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns on 285 carries last year. Gordon barely played for the first 3 weeks of the season too. Gordon will be able to play a full season as the best running back at football, and if he does reach the 2,000 yard mark, he’ll certainly be a Heisman finalist and maybe even the winner.
Jalon Daniels, QB, Kansas – Jalon Daniels could’ve been the best and most exciting college football player these past 2 seasons, but there’s a reason he hasn’t been. That reason is one we all know, which is that he can’t stay healthy. In 2022, when Daniels started to rise after leading Kansas to a 5-0 start, Daniels suffered a shoulder injury, only to return, play subpar, and then surprise the world when he put up 544 yards through the air and 6 total touchdowns. He finished the year playing 9 games and throwing for 2,014 yards, 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He also ran for 425 yards and 7 touchdowns. Daniels had a great 2022, and most of the College Football world thought Daniels could build on that good season and maybe make a run for the Heisman. Daniels didn’t play the season opener last season, as he was dealing with a back injury. He then played the next 3 games before his back flared up right before their next game. This caused Daniels to miss the rest of the season, and he only threw for 705 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 1 pick. This also practically got Jason Bean drafted into the NFL. I think Daniels has a really good shot at winning this award, but if he gets hurt, then his career might go down as one of the most unlucky and saddest college football careers, at least from a fan’s perspective. The only way Daniels wins the Heisman is if he stays healthy, but we know he can’t. If he can prove all of the haters and doubters wrong, then this is the season to do it.
Sheduer Sanders, QB, Colorado – This might seem like the most casual fan’s take, but its not. Sanders was one of the biggest characters in college football last season, and we all knew it. He did have a good season stat wise, as he threw for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just 3 picks. He also ran for 4 touchdowns. However, Sanders was sacked 52 times, and Sanders can’t get things going on the offense if he’s being sacked that much. Colorado is retaining most of their skill position players from last season, and those players helped Sanders throw for the number of yards and touchdowns that he did. However, in order to win the Heisman, you need to be on a winning team. Colorado can’t win of Sanders is always on the ground in the backfield.
Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado – We haven’t seen a corner back win the Heisman since Charles Woodson did in 1997. What better season that 2024, which will certainly be one of the most chaotic seasons with all the conference realignment, for another corner to win the award. Although Hunter is a great corner back, he is also a talented wide receiver. On the defensive side of the ball last season, Hunter had 31 total tackles, 5 pass deflections, and 3 picks. He also caught 57 passes for 720 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also played a lot of snaps in multiple games. Hunter gets the bonus of playing double the positions, which means double the time for greatness. However, just like Sanders, the only way Hunter wins the Heisman is if Colorado wins games. If the Buffs do, both Hunter and Sanders should skyrocket to the top of the Heisman race.
Miller Moss, QB, USC – This pick is very similar to my Drew Allar and Cade Klubnik picks from last year. I was very optimistic about how their seasons were going to pan out, and both Allar and Klubnik were no where close to being Heisman contenders. After getting to a few games during blowouts at the start of the season and then starting USC’s bowl game, Moss finished the season with 680 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 1 pick, while also rushing for 2 scores. He played in 4 games, and a bulk of his starts came from USC’s win over Louisville in the Holiday Bowl. Moss threw for 372 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 1 pick. The 6 touchdowns also set a Holiday Bowl record. Moss is simply on this list because he looks like the Freshman that can shock the world. However, I was wrong about Allar and Klubnik last year, and I hope I’m not wrong about Moss.
Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri – It seems like every year, a wide receiver shoots up to the top of the race, and I think that Luther Burden will be that guy this year. Last year, he had 86 catches for 1,212 yards, and 9 touchdowns, and Burden is looking like the best wide receiver in college football right now. He also has a great quarterback in Brady Cook, and even though he has to spilt targets with Theo Wease, I think Burden will be able to rise above the rest of the wide receivers.
