Heisman rankings – Week 5: Kyler Murray makes a statement
The 2018 Heisman Trophy race has been exceptionally fluid since the start of the season, but things got shook up in a big way after Week 5.
With the slate of college football games we were faced with for Week 5 of the regular season, it figured that we could see some movement in the 2018 Heisman Trophy rankings. There were four matchups between top-25 teams on Saturday, including two between top-10 opponents. As such, it was a big day for players to prove themselves and try to shake up the rankings. They certainly brought that to fruition.
Whether it was Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Dwayne Haskins struggling in the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions, Will Grier looking shaky in the second half for the West Virginia Mountaineers against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, or something else, things definitely look quite different in the Heisman Trophy race after this week. And really, this could be the norm moving forward in 2018.
It’s worth mentioning that Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book, who took over for Brandon Wimbush last week, might actually be in this conversation had he been starting since Week 1. He was masterful in his destruction of the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday night, giving him two fantastic performances to start his reign over the offense. However, with those missed games, he’s simply not done enough to crack the top 10.
With that said, there are still plenty of other players with bigger bodies of work that have their case for the award after five weeks of action. And with that, let’s get into the 2018 Heisman rankings after Week 5 of the regular season, starting with No. 10 and working our way to the leader of the race at this point — a new face at the top.
10. Cole McDonald
Full disclosure, I was expecting to move Hawaii Rainbow Warriors quarterback Cole McDonald up in these rankings when looking at his matchup with San Jose State in Week 5. However, he drops a bit for his performance in the clutch against the Spartans in their five-overtime thriller, ultimately a 44-41 win for the Warriors. However, McDonald performing better in the extra frames could’ve ended it a lot sooner.
Even still, the sophomore signal-caller still finished the night going for 341 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception, giving him over 2,000 yards, 24 touchdowns and just two picks on the year. Overall, there’s no denying his productivity and ability. However, for him to be taken seriously in the Heisman race, he needs to step up in big moments, which he failed to do on Saturday night.
9. Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor and the Wisconsin Badgers had an off week on Saturday, meaning that there’s nothing to speak of in terms of his performance in Week 5. Having said that, the running back is an interesting case study at this point in the Heisman rankings. Because though his numbers are impressive, there’s a reason he’s just ninth right now.
Through Taylor’s first four games, the sophomore running back has topped 100 yards in each game and has 628 yards and five scores on the year. What matters, however, is that he’s been lesser in the team’s two biggest games of the year. In the upset loss to BYU, he had just 117 yards and not scores, following that up with 113 yards and no touchdowns against Iowa. In such a loaded race, those types of performances in big games just aren’t going to get it done.