Top 10 Heisman Trophy candidates and 5 dark horse picks for 2021

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 19: Spencer Rattler #7 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks for an open receiver against the Iowa State Cyclones in the second quarter of the 2020 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship football game at AT&T Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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Bijan Robinson, Texas Longhorns. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

6. Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

Not that I’m alone in the slightest, but I’m firmly planting myself on the Bijan Robinson hype train entering the 2021 college football season. This is a special talent at running back that, to be honest, wasn’t used nearly as often as he should’ve been under Tom Herman. But now that Texas has Steve Sarkisian calling the shots, Robinson should be a star for the Longhorns.

As a freshman a year ago, the former 5-star recruit played in nine games for Texas and notched 86 carries on the year. That’s not a lot but it speaks to his immense talent that he was still able to put up 703 yards (good for 8.2 yards per carry) on the year, even if he only found the end zone four times. Oh yeah, he also had 15 catches for 196 yards and two more scores, highlighting his versatility out of the backfield.

Robinson checks all of the boxes for being a superstar running back at the college level. He has tremendous size at 6-foot, 222 pounds but moves like a man much smaller than that in terms of both his top-end speed and short-area quickness. His ability to make something out of nothing is unmatched in the college ranks.

With Texas breaking in a new quarterback this year, it’s hard to think that Sark won’t heavily rely on Robinson to carry the offense, especially early on. With that type of workload and the per-touch efficiency he displayed as a freshman, his sophomore year could easily land him as a Heisman finalist.