Which Heisman Trophy contenders are heating up heading into the second half of the season and which contenders are slowing down when it matters most?
We’re past the halfway mark of the college football season and division and conference races are heating up with only four playoff spots on the line. Individual honors are heating up as well with Heisman Trophy contenders playing their way into contention and out of contention, especially after last week saw Clemson, Washington, Washington State and Auburn lose.
Lamar Jackson is all but eliminated from Heisman contention after Louisville suffered their third loss of the season. As dynamic and electrifying of a playmaker he is as the nation’s best dual-threat quarterback, he’s not going to repeat, and he likely needed to go to the ACC Championship Game if he stood a chance. But that hasn’t resulted in other quarterbacks jumping up and putting their name in the conversation.
Perhaps USC’s Sam Darnold can play his way back in with his play in the second half but the Heisman field is led by running backs, which is odd considering last year was supposed to be the “Year of the Running Back” with guys like Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook, among the notable backs who were in line for the Trophy last year.
This week’s Heisman Stock Report looks at a pair of Big Ten backs, two quarterbacks that were written off after tough losses and one runner who could do what McCaffrey couldn’t do at Stanford.