The landscape of college football changes annually, so let’s take an early look at who the 2018 Heisman Trophy candidates will be.
Whenever it comes to college football — or really sports in general — there is always a propensity for fans and analysts alike to look ahead. As soon as a National Champion or award winner is crowned, it’s all about who will compete for the honor next season. That’s especially true when it comes to something like the Heisman Trophy.
One thing that’s for certain is that there will be new blood in the Heisman Trophy race come the 2018 college football season. The three finalists for the award in 2017 — Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson and Bryce Love — will all likely be heading to the NFL. The same can be said for other candidates from throughout the season such as Saquon Barkley and perhaps even Sam Darnold.
Thus, it’ll largely be a new crop of players heavily in the mix competing for the most prestigious individual award in college football. That makes it somewhat hard to prognosticate as to who will be the guys that are vying for the award come 2018. However, in the ever-present interest of looking ahead, that’s what we’re going to try and do.
Assuming that guys like Darnold and other juniors that seem bound for the NFL Draft do indeed leave, these are five of the leading 2018 Heisman Trophy candidates.
5. Deondre Francois, QB, Florida State
When Deondre Francois went down at the end of Florida State’s season-opener against Alabama, the hopes for the Seminoles went down with him. Not only were they losing a leader and ultra-talented player, but it seemed to deflate the entire team on both sides of the ball. Thus, that’s why they ended the campaign with just a 6-6 overall record and are heading to the Independence Bowl as opposed to vying for a College Football Playoff berth.
With that said, Francois should be back for next season as he recovers from a torn patella tendon. We don’t particularly know how long it will take the quarterback to get to 100 percent, and there will be a different vibe around FSU next season with Jimbo Fisher leaving and making way for new head coach Willie Taggart. However, what we can say for sure is that Francois at 100 percent is undeniably a Heisman-caliber talent.
His numbers as a freshman were truly electric in the 2016 season. He completed only 58.8 percent of his throws, but looked better than that would indicate as he threw for 3,350 yards, 20 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Meanwhile, you can’t discount his mobility either as he found the end zone five times with his legs.
As he returns from the injury, you have to believe that Taggart’s offense will go through the quarterback. There’s no doubt that Francois will be out to prove himself coming back from the missed 2017 season, and that could very easily put him in the Heisman conversation if he’s able to get back to full strength and deliver.
4. McKenzie Milton, QB, UCF
There’s absolutely no question that the UCF Knights were one of the best stories in college football this season. A laughingstock of the sports world just two seasons ago, Scott Frost’s team went undefeated and, truthfully, should’ve been given more consideration for a College Football Playoff spot. Even still, they’re heading for the Peach Bowl to face Auburn, and the driving force on the field has undoubtedly been sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton.
Milton quite simply did it all for UCF this past season. He completed an impressive 69.2 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,795 yards, 35 touchdowns and only giving the ball away nine times. For good measure, the 5-foot-11 Hawaii native also rushed for 497 yards and an additional seven scores on the year. Despite his diminutive stature, Milton has proven time and again to be a bonafide playmaker and star in the college football world.
Though Frost is leaving, UCF is going to still have their general signal-caller again next season. This is one of the most prolific offenses in the country, and the quarterback isn’t going to let that change next season.
Perhaps the best thing working in Milton’s favor is the fact that the Knights are no longer a secret. After their 12-0 regular season, they aren’t going to sneak up on anyone and the world at large is going to have their eyes on them. As such, it’d be a safe bet to say that Milton has the prowess to put himself in the mix for the Heisman next season.
3. D’Andre Swift, RB, Georgia
This one might be the biggest longshot of the five players mentioned in this particular post. However, it’s going to be pretty hard to deny what D’Andre Swift has already proven to be capable of and the stark increase in work that he’s set to see with the Georgia Bulldogs offense heading into next season. Put simply, he’s going to be put in a position to lead the offense, and he has more than enough talent to do so with Heisman-worthy production.
As a freshman this season playing behind the fantastic tandem of Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, Swift still managed to sneak his way into the rotation relatively frequently. He carried the ball 73 times on the year and amassed 15 receptions. What’s most impressive, though, is what he was able to do with that albeit limited work this season.
Swift rushed for 597 yards and three touchdowns this season, again, despite being the third running back in the backfield rotation for the Bulldogs. More than just that running ability that saw him average 8.2 yards per tote, he also went for 146 yards and another score as a receiver this season.
With Chubb and Michel set to head to the NFL Draft, it’s going to be Swift as the RB1 for Kirby Smart’s team next season. As that will be the case, he’s going to see a hefty increase in touches both as a runner and pass-catcher. And if this freshman season is any indication, the rest of college football better watch out because he’s about to run by them.
2. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin
For my money, there should have been a fourth finalist for the 2017 Heisman Trophy, but Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor got snubbed out of being the fourth guy invited to New York. Admittedly, this race has been over for several weeks in favor of Baker Mayfield, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it feels like Taylor isn’t getting his just due for what he was able to accomplish this season.
Despite not even being the unquestioned RB1 for the Badgers in the offseason, Taylor quickly established himself as just that and left no doubt once he took the field. In Wisconsin’s 13 games this season, Taylor was only below 100 yards rushing on four occasions, a remarkable streak of consistency from a freshman running back playing against solid Big Ten defenses.
In the end, Taylor carried the ball 273 times this season and went for 1,847 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was the driving force for the Badgers this season, leading them to their 12-1 record and the Big Ten Championship Game, though they ultimately fell in that contest to Ohio State.
With a year of playing at the collegiate level now under his belt, the assumption would be that Taylor should only improve. If there’s one thing that we can always expect out of the Badgers, it’s that they’ll have big bodies ready to clear the way up front. When you combine that with the talent and newfound experience of Taylor, he should undoubtedly be in New York for the Heisman ceremonies when the 2018 season concludes.
1. Khalil Tate, QB, Arizona
The rise of Khalil Tate and the Arizona Wildcats in the middle of the 2017 season was one of the most fun and enjoyable narratives to follow in all of college football. In a Pac-12 conference where the quarterback narrative was dominated by Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, it was Tate that started to make all of the waves and steal all of the headlines. And frankly, it’s not difficult at all to see why that was the case.
Once he was given the reins of the offense, Tate took off running, both literally and figuratively. His first full game of action as the Wildcats quarterback against Colorado saw him throw for 154 yards and a score, but also run for a ridiculous 327 yards and four touchdowns. He proved that was far from a flash in the pan, as well.
On the year, Tate finished with 1,289 passing yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. However, his truly impressive marks came as a runner where he amassed 1,353 yards and 12 touchdowns on only 133 carries for the season. For those keeping track at home, that’s an average of 10.2 yards per carry.
Next: Ranking The Best Heisman Trophy Winners Of All-Time
There’s no doubt that Tate will enter 2018 as the unquestioned leader of the Arizona offense. With that confidence instilled in him, growth as a man and player from the experience he gained this season, and simply his unreal athleticism and talent, Tate is again going to be looking to take the college world by storm. If he can improve upon what he did this season, there’s no way he’s not a Heisman candidate in 2018.