Predicting each 2017 Heisman candidate’s NFL future
By John Buhler
The 2017 Heisman Trophy will be handed out on Dec. 9. Let’s take a look at the three Heisman finalists’ NFL future. Will any of these guys star on Sundays?
It’s college football awards season. The four teams have been picked for the College Football Playoff. Other teams have their holiday season bowls lined up. Awards like Outland Trophy and the Davey O’Brien Award will be handed out in the coming days, but we’re talking about the Heisman Trophy, guys.
The 2017 Heisman Trophy presentation will be at 8:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 9. This year, there will only be three upperclassmen making the trek to New York City. Louisville Cardinals junior quarterback Lamar Jackson looks to join former Ohio State Buckeyes running back Archie Griffin as the trophy’s second two-time winner. Jackson became the first Louisville player to win the Heisman last season.
Stanford Cardinal junior running back Bryce Love ran all over the Pac-12 this season. He did a marvelous job filling the massive shoes of former Stanford standout running back Christian McCaffrey this season. Love was the best player on the Pac-12 North champion Cardinal.
The third Heisman finalist is Oklahoma Sooners redshirt senior quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield is the front-runner to win the 2017 Heisman. He was a finalist last year, finishing third behind Jackson and former Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson. Mayfield has quarterbacked the Sooners into the College Football Playoff as the No. 2 overall seed. Oklahoma will play the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs in the Rose Bowl.
But what does the future hold for these three Heisman finalists? What could they do on fall Sundays? Here is a prediction of what all three 2017 Heisman finalists’ NFL careers could look like. Mayfield will enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Both Jackson and Love are eligible to leave school a year early and enter the draft this spring as well.
Jackson may have the most impressive physical traits of any offensive skill position player in college football today. He is the definition of a dual-threat quarterback. Jackson has a hose for a right arm and can make all the necessary throws in an NFL playbook. He perhaps is more devastating as a runner. His foot speed and agility reminds us of Michael Vick when he was with the Virginia Tech Hokies in college and the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL.
Jackson is a hard worker and a fast learner. Keep in mind that he didn’t have a playbook while he was in high school. He has mastered Bobby Petrino’s offensive system in three years as the Louisville starter. Petrino is one of the better offensive minds in college football and did spend almost a year coaching the Falcons in the NFL.
As a true junior, Jackson has emphasized three things to elevate his game as a passer. He has begun to take some snaps under center to give scouts some tape that he can run a pro-style offense. Jackson has worked on his accuracy, as he was able to get over the crucial 60.0 percent completion threshold. He even minimized his turnovers through the air as a passer.
At 6-foot-3, Jackson is certainly tall enough to be an NFL quarterback. However, he is slight of build at only 211 pounds. He will have to put on some extra muscle to have staying power in the NFL. There is a chance he could be injury prone. However, his talent is off the charts and could be a first-round pick in the upcoming draft should he leave school early.
Overall, Jackson’s three NFL prototypes are Michael Vick as a ceiling, Marcus Mariota as a mid-tier projection and Johnny Manziel as a floor. Jackson could be a superstar in the NFL or bust catastrophically. He seems to be an adult, so that will help him as a professional football player. What really matters is what team he will be going to.
If Jackson is a late first-round pick, odds are that he will be going to a well-run organization. They can work on his accuracy and how to best manage his dual-threat playmaking abilities. He will star in this league initially with his legs, but it remains to be seen if he is accurate enough of a passer