Heisman trophy: How does Ashton Jeanty's season compare to Derrick Henry's Heisman-winning 2015 campaign?

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is very likely sprinting himself to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. The junior has been demolishing opposing defenses and is leading his team to within a couple wins of its first-ever College Football Playoff, most recently rushing for 169 yards and a score in the Broncos' 17-13 win at Wyoming on Saturday — numbers that made his per-game averages go down.

Throughout this historic run, Jeanty has drawn comparisons to the great Barry Sanders and his record-breaking 1988 season. Those comparisons have proven to be warranted, given that Jeanty has nearly kept pace with Sanders through 11 games and even has an extra contest to try and beat him.

However, a more recent Heisman-winning back has been put side-by-side with Jeanty, and serves as a very strong case for the Boise State product to be awarded the top honor in December.

How does Ashton Jeanty's 2024 compare to Derrick Henry's Heisman-winning 2015 campaign?

Through 11 games this season, Jeanty has racked up a whopping 2,062 yards. That's almost 600 yards more than the next closest rusher, Iowa's Kaleb Johnson.

In 2015, Alabama's Derrick Henry was a force of nature, leading the nation in rushing yards and touchdowns while leading the Tide to a national title. But through 11 games, the current All-Pro only had 1,526 yards, a figure that Jeanty's blowing out of the water right now. In fact, Jeanty was already approaching Henry's season-long totals at the end of Week 12.

Henry had 22 rushing touchdowns at the same juncture, Jeanty has 27 so far. (Sanders had 37 after 11 games, a testmant both to the Oklahoma State legend's greatness and how much the game has changed over the last 35 years.) Jeanty hasn't been held under triple-digits in rushing yards in a game this season; that happened to Henry four times, and he still won the Heisman.

Playing for a Mountain West team that currently sits 81st in FBS in strength of schedule doesn't help Jeanty's case, unfortunately. But Boise State's strength of record is 12th-best in the nation, which makes up for it a bit: The Broncos are controlling games in the way you'd expect from a College Football Playoff contender, and that starts and ends with Jeanty, who's basically a one-man engine on offense.

Just being a finalist is a great honor, but Jeanty's historic season shouldn't be devalued because of where he plays and who he plays against. Even if he eventually loses out to Travis Hunter or Cam Ward, what Jeanty is doing is something we've rarely ever seen in this sport.