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How many quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy?

By John Buhler

LEXINGTON, KY - NOVEMBER 25: Lamar Jackson No. 8 of the Louisville Cardinals throws a pass against the Kentucky Wildcats during the game at Commonwealth Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - NOVEMBER 25: Lamar Jackson No. 8 of the Louisville Cardinals throws a pass against the Kentucky Wildcats during the game at Commonwealth Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Quarterbacks win the Heisman Trophy all the time. But how often do signal callers end up winning the Heisman? Here are the quarterbacks that have won it.

The 2017 Heisman Trophy presentation is on Saturday night where Baker Mayfield is likely to join the list of quarterbacks that have won in years past. This year, there are three finalists. 2016 winner in Louisville Cardinals junior quarterback Lamar Jackson will look to be the second repeat winner of the Heisman, along with former Ohio State Buckeyes running back Archie Griffin, who won it in 1975 and 1976.

Stanford Cardinal junior running back Bryce Love tore it up in the Pac-12, doing a magnificent job of replacing former Heisman runner-up Christian McCaffrey down on The Farm. The third Heisman finalist is Oklahoma Sooners redshirt senior quarterback Baker Mayfield. He looks to be the front-runner for this year’s trophy, as Mayfield has the Sooners in the College Football Playoff as the No. 2 seed as Big 12 Champions for the third year in a row.

This list of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks could increase by one if Mayfield wins the award like he probably should. We could add another year next to Jackson’s name below. Or we could see Love come out of left field and win the thing for all we know. Here are all the guys that have won the Heisman as a quarterback.

Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks

  1. Davey O’Brien, TCU Horned Frogs (1938)
  2. Nile Kinnick, Iowa Hawkeyes (1939)
  3. Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1943)
  4. Les Horvath, Ohio State Buckeyes (1944)
  5. Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1947)
  6. Paul Hornung, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1956)
  7. Terry Baker, Oregon State Beavers (1962)
  8. Roger Staubach, Navy Midshipmen (1963)
  9. John Huarte, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1964)
  10. Steve Spurrier, Florida Gators (1966)
  11. Gary Beban, UCLA Bruins (1967)
  12. Jim Plunkett, Stanford Cardinal (1970)
  13. Pat Sullivan, Auburn Tigers (1971)
  14. Doug Flutie, Boston College Eagles (1984)
  15. Vinny Testaverde, Miami Hurricanes (1986)
  16. Andre Ware, Houston Cougars (1989)
  17. Ty Detmer, BYU Cougars (1990)
  18. Gino Torretta, Miami Hurricanes (1992)
  19. Charlie Ward, Florida State Seminoles (1993)
  20. Danny Wuerffel, Florida Gators (1996)
  21. Chris Weinke, Florida State Seminoles (2000)
  22. Eric Crouch, Nebraska Cornhuskers (2001)
  23. Carson Palmer, USC Trojans (2002)
  24. Jason White, Oklahoma Sooners (2003)
  25. Matt Leinart, USC Trojans (2004)
  26. Troy Smith, Ohio State Buckeyes (2006)
  27. Tim Tebow, Florida Gators (2007)
  28. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma Sooners (2008)
  29. Cam Newton, Auburn Tigers (2010)
  30. Robert Griffin III, Baylor Bears (2011)
  31. Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M Aggies (2012)
  32. Jameis Winston, Florida State Seminoles (2013)
  33. Marcus Mariota, Oregon Ducks (2014)
  34. Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals (2016)

Overall, there have been 34 men that have won the Heisman playing the quarterback position. It should be noted that this has become an increasingly quarterback-driven award since the dawn of the 21st century. 14 of the last 17 winners have played the quarterback position.

The exceptions are USC Trojans running back Reggie Bush in 2005, whose award would be later vacated, Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram Jr. in 2009 and Alabama running back Derrick Henry in 2015.

Next: 25 Heisman Trophy winners with best NFL careers

Love could win the award, but it feels like it is Mayfield’s trophy to lose. Unless the Heisman voters really think that Jackson is deserving of a second trophy, Mayfield has this one in the bag.

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