Heisman resume: Jalen Hurts vs. Kyler Murray vs. Baker Mayfield through 5 games

How does Jalen Hurts stack up with Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield through Oklahoma’s first five games? Is he outperforming the last two Heisman winners?

Jalen Hurts has picked right up where his Oklahoma quarterback predecessors left off. Hurts is squarely in the Heisman Trophy race and has the Sooners in the mix for a Big 12 championship and another berth in the College Football Playoff.

The conversation about whether he can make it three straight Oklahoma quarterbacks being the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft will linger into the spring. But for now, Hurts is keeping the conversation alive for a third straight Heisman winner from Oklahoma.

The season is still young with just five games played to this point, but Hurts will face his biggest test yet as a member of Oklahoma this weekend in the Red River Showdown vs. Texas.

As great as Hurts has been to this point in his career, this represents the game where he can really put an exclamation mark at the end of a Heisman statement this Saturday. It’s one thing to put up big numbers in a win against Kansas and a totally different thing to put up big numbers in a win against Texas.

Hurts is among the leading Heisman candidates, along with his former Alabama teammate, Tua Tagovailoa, Joe Burrow, Justin Fields and Jonathan Taylor. That is his primary competition, but let’s look at how Hurts’ numbers through five games compare to Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield through five games.

Jalen Hurts – 82/109, 75.2 percent completion, 1,523 yards, 14 TD, 2 INT, 499 rush yards, 7 TD

Hurts has a better completion percentage than Murray and Mayfield. Hurts has thrown for more yards than Murray and rushed for more than 200 more yards while accounting for the same 21 total touchdowns as Murray. It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Mayfield with slightly more passing yards, but Hurts isn’t too far behind the pace set by Mayfield who was not the runner the other two are.

Kyler Murray – 77/109, 70.7 percent completion, 1,460 yards, 17 TD, 2 INT, 285 rush yards, 4 TD

At this time last year, Murray was in the Heisman picture, but he wasn’t viewed as the front-runner. For most of the year, Tagovailoa was the prohibitive front-runner to win and it was almost a given he was going to win. Murray was able to catch and pass Tagovailoa at the finish line when the Alabama quarterback was dealing with nagging injuries and his performance suffered as a result.

Baker Mayfield – 100/134, 74.6 percent completion, 1,635 yards, 15 TD, 0 INT, 1 rush TD

Mayfield was already a top-five finisher in the Heisman twice before ultimately winning in 2017. He was on the radar among Heisman voters in the same respect that Hurts is now. Hurts hasn’t been in the Heisman conversation during his time at Alabama despite winning an SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award. However, the two are both strong leaders who have the backing of their teammates and coaches. Players rally behind the efforts of these two. They can will their team to a win by putting them on their shoulders.

What the Red River Showdown means for the Heisman

If you don’t play well against your school’s biggest rival in your biggest game of the year, you can cancel the rest of the Heisman promotional efforts and suspend the campaign. Hurts doesn’t need a win to stay in the Heisman conversation, but he has to avoid a clunker in a game that will be on national television and have the eyes of media from around the nation who may otherwise not be watching as intensely in other weeks.

Murray lost last year’s Red River Showdown, but it wasn’t because he delivered a dud. He was the best player on the field that day and would have had the win if not for some terrible defense by the Oklahoma defense that allowed 48 points. Murray’s stat line was ridiculous. It looked like something when I’d play NCAA Football on Junior Varsity.

• Murray vs. Texas (2018): 19/26, 304 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 92 rush yards, 1 TD

Murray got revenge on Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game when he had 408 total yards and three touchdowns in the win, which clinched the Heisman for him.

Mayfield’s numbers vs. Texas in his Heisman-winning year are less gaudy than Murray’s but still pretty good. It wasn’t his best game of the year but topping 300 yards and getting the win kept him in the race and allowed him to play his way to the Heisman in the second half of the season.

• Mayfield vs. Texas (2017): 17/27, 302 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 27 rush yards

What’s next?

So all of this means Hurts is ahead of the pace set by Murray and Mayfield in certain aspects. The most important part of his Heisman resume will be leading Oklahoma to wins. If Oklahoma beats Texas on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl and goes undefeated as Big 12 champs, Hurts will be in the position to make it three Oklahoma quarterbacks as Heisman winners in a row.

Of course, Hurts isn’t competing directly with Murray and Mayfield to win the Heisman. He has to compete with Tagovailoa, Burrow, Fields, Taylor and the rest of the field. But through five weeks, he’s done everything possible Oklahoma could ask of him.

Will he win the Heisman? I’m not going to bet against him, but there is still a long way to go. So far, it’s been a great start to the journey.

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