Can Travis Etienne bring the Heisman back to the running back?

Travis Etienne is arguably the best running back in college football. Will he be the one to bring the Heisman Trophy back into the hands of running backs?

Travis Etienne has big plans for his senior year at Clemson University.

The two-time ACC Player of the Year opted to stay in school rather than enter his name into the 2020 NFL Draft. Etienne may have been a first-round pick had he left school early, or at the very least, been a high day-two draft selection. Having accomplished so much in the college game, it’ll be interesting to see what he has in store for us during his season campaign at Clemson.

Etienne has to be the frontrunner for the Doak Walker Award now that former Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor turned pro. Of course, Etienne will have great competition for the award this fall, most notably from Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard.

Interestingly enough, both tailbacks have great odds to bring home the 2020 Heisman Trophy. Though the trophy has gone to quarterbacks more often than not in recent years, do Etienne or Hubbard have what it takes to get the Heisman back into the hands of a running back?

Here are the latest odds for the 2020 Heisman Trophy, via William Hill.

2020 Heisman Trophy odds

Etienne and Hubbard have good odds at this point of the offseason at +2200. While those are the best odds for any non-quarterback, they trail seven signal-callers ahead of them, including Etienne’s Clemson teammate Trevor Lawrence at +400. Hubbard looks to be the first Poke to win the Heisman since Barry Sanders back in 1988. Clemson has never had a Heisman Trophy winner.

Since 2005, only three running backs have won the Heisman. Reggie Bush took it home in 2005 as a member of the USC Trojans, but later had to vacate his trophy. Mark Ingram Jr. was a sophomore sensation for Nick Saban’s 2009 National Championship team. Six years later, junior running Derrick Henry carried the rock en route to another Alabama Crimson Tide national title.

Even with Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Christian McCaffrey finishing as runner-ups to Ingram and Henry, respectively, the Heisman has been a star quarterback’s to lose. But if we’re going to get one this year, it will likely be either Etienne or Hubbard who get the thing done. Who has the better shot to win the trophy in 2020: Etienne or Hubbard? Let’s find out now.

Hubbard has, in theory, a clearer shot than Etienne, as he won’t be challenged for it internally like Etienne will. Spencer Sanders can be a good quarterback for Oklahoma State, but Lawrence is in a whole other stratosphere than him. Plus, who knows how good Oklahoma State will be? The Cowboys might be the third-best team in the Big 12, while Clemson is clearly the best in the ACC.

What does serve Etienne as college football’s best running back candidate to win the Heisman is this: He plays an incredibly important position on the most notable team in a weak conference. Clemson should buzzsaw whoever it plays again this fall. Lawrence may get removed from games early, leading to potentially more carries for Etienne and the Clemson tailbacks to milk the clock.

While Lawrence could be the best quarterbacking prospect since John Elway, it is Etienne who has First-Team All-American status and two ACC Player of the Year nods on his college football resume. For an incredibly talented player, it’s amazing how little the spotlight is on Etienne.

We should expect Clemson to have a Heisman Trophy finalist this fall, possibly two. If that’s the case, Etienne and Lawrence could theoretically split votes. Then again, Baker Mayfield still won the 2017 Heisman Trophy in a landslide even with his Oklahoma Sooners teammate Dede Westbrook in attendance. Plus, Lawrence is more well-known nationally than is Etienne.

So can Etienne bring the Heisman back to the running backs? Maybe, but don’t bank on it.

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