It’s already Week 9 of the 2016 college football season, folks! That means the Heisman Trophy race is heating up. Here are the five guys to watch in Week 9.
Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals QB
Until proven otherwise, Louisville Cardinals sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson is the clear front-runner for the 2016 Heisman Trophy. Jackson’s Cardinals are the No. 5 team in the nation and are 6-1 on the year due in large part to his outstanding play this season.
Jackson has completed 58.6% of his passes for 2,161 yards, 18 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. His in-game accuracy can still improve, but his yards per attempt of 9.4 is impressive and so is his quarterback rating of 159.5.
On the ground, Jackson has a chance to eclipse 1,000 yards for the season against the lowly Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday in Charlottesville. Jackson has 908 rushing yards this year on 130 attempts for 16 scores.
Jackson has already set a University of Louisville record for most touchdowns in a season. He did that in 6.5 games. There is a good chance that he’ll end up getting pulled early from this game against Virginia this weekend, too. Even if he doesn’t play much in the second half, Jackson is still a must-watch player for the Cardinals.
Kickoff from Scott Field on Saturday, October 29th will be at 12:00 PM ET. ABC/ESPN 2 will have the telecast.