Heisman Watch 2016: Week 11 players to watch
By John Buhler
It’s already Week 11 of the 2016 college football season. Here are the five players that are on watch for the 2016 Heisman Trophy this weekend.
Louisville Cardinals QB Lamar Jackson
Louisville Cardinals sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson could honestly go up to his head coach Bobby Petrino and say, “You know what? I’m good”, sit out Louisville’s last three regular season games and still win the 2016 Heisman Trophy.
Jackson is the most worthy Heisman candidate and it isn’t particularly close. The only thing keeping Jackson from being a unanimous Heisman Trophy winner is the parochial nature associated the the award’s regional voting biases. How many Big Ten or Pac-12 guys are not going to have Jackson atop their ballot, honestly?
Here are Jackson’s numbers through nine games with the 2016 Cardinals: He has completed 59.0% of his passes for 2,753 yards, 26 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. He is averaging 9.6 yards per attempt, 10.4 adjusted yards per attempt, and his quarterback rating is off the charts at 169.4.
On the ground, Jackson has rushed the football 163 times for 1,183 yards and 19 touchdowns. Jackson may not have his best performance of the season, as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are a pretty solid football team this year. Expect Jackson to only be great on Saturday as opposed to other-worldly.
Louisville hosts Wake Forest at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday night at Papa John’s Cardinals Stadium. ESPN 2 will have the telecast of this ACC Atlantic game.