Heisman rankings, Week 4: K.J. Costello enters the chat

2. K.J. Costello, QB, Mississippi State

With Mike Leach arriving in Starkville, there were viable questions about how his Air-Raid offense would fare in the SEC and, just as importantly, how quickly Stanford transfer quarterback K.J. Costello would adjust to it. Considering that Mississippi State opened the season with a win over the reigning National Champion LSU Tigers in Death Valley on the shoulders of an offensive explosion, things went quite well.

Costello fit right into the offense with one big play after another. While he only completed 36 of his 60 passing attempts, he threw for a ludicrous 623 yards with five touchdowns, though he did have two picks. Even still, with that type of production, Costello turned a lot of heads in his debut for the Bulldogs. If he keeps this up and Leach’s offense remains cooking, he could be the dark-horse Heisman candidate that firmly plants himself at the top of the conversation.

1. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson

The Clemson Tigers were idle in Week 4 of the 2020 season, meaning quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn’t get an opportunity to take the field. As he was the clear leader in the Heisman Trophy rankings through his first two games of the year, it would feel like an overreaction to move him from the pole position, especially given his pedigree and what he’s shown already.

Despite the fact that he’s barely played four full quarters of football this season, Lawrence has completed 81.1 percent of his passes for 519 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers to go with three rushing scores as well. The level of competition will ramp up in ACC play soon enough but this looks like the best version of Lawrence we’ve seen yet, which is a frightening proposition for every defense he’ll go up against.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.