All of the Heisman Trophy talk has been about Fernando Mendoza vs. Julian Sayin with a sprinkle of Ty Simpson. It’s clear a quarterback will return to raising college football’s most elite award in roughly a month. The question, though, is which one? There’s actually one that hasn’t been getting nearly as much attention as he should, he just might sneak ahead of the current frontrunners.
Marcel Reed has Texas A&M as the top team in the SEC per the latest college football rankings and three wins away from the Aggies’ first College Football Playoff appearance and potential SEC title since joining the conference in 2012. Yet, not nearly as much attention is thrown his way. He may not be the best arm talent that is currently contending for the award, but if winning matters and SEC bias is a real thing, he deserves more respect than not.
If the Heisman award is supposed to highlight the best player in college football while amplifying their impact on their team’s ability to win, Reed has arguably done more than both Sayin and Mendoza. After all, both of those teams were already championship contenders. Reed stole the starting job from Conner Weigman and in his first full season, has been just as important as any other quarterback in the race.
Reed is the dark horse Heisman candidate everyone is forgetting about and it’s time to start giving him respect. What he’s done at Texas A&M this season should be applauded and it should give him a leg up.
What will give Marcel Reed the edge in his Heisman Trophy campaign?
The biggest thing Reed needs to do is win out and win an SEC title. While he doesn’t need to win the SEC title to get into the finalist category, it would go a long way to solidifying his resume. After all, he’s going up against two quarterbacks who are most likely going to meet in the Big Ten title game and if they have a shootout, it will be hard for Reed to leap either of them.
Texas A&M has one final test against Texas at the end of the season and if the don’t get the win in that game, it would be what kills his Heisman resume. Even with an SEC title game, unless Mendoza and Sayin fall apart and Reed plays unreal, it’s going to be hard for him to jump into serious consideration.
After all, recency bias and media attention are the two biggest contributors to the award. Reed isn’t quite a frontrunner in either category. But he should be getting more notoriety than he is because he’s an elite athlete.
This season, he’s been as good of a dual threat quarterback as any. He has 2,193 passing yards with 19 passing touchdowns and six interceptions. On the ground, he has 378 rushing yards with six rushing touchdowns as well. He’s on pace to set career high in rushing yards and already has a career high in passing.
I’m not saying Reed needs to win the Heisman this year, I think it’s Mendoza’s to lose. But if Reed orchestrates a strong finish and delivers College Station its first conference football title since the Aggies won the Big 12 in 1998, you have to think it’s enough to make this a close vote.