Heisman Trophy Power Rankings: Predicting the Top 10 candidates for 2024

Cameron Ward might be the biggest unknown for the 2024 college football season. After transferring to Washington State for two years after starting his career at Incarnate Word, the quarterback is back into the transfer portal as a graduate student for immediate eligibilty. And the buzz around the industry is that he could be the most coveted quarterback in the portal this offseason.

Why wouldn't he be, though? Despite the immense leap in competition, Ward has more than acquitted himself well at the FBS level. Over 25 games with Wazzu, he completed 65.5% of his passes for 6,968 yards, 48 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while adding 13 rushing touchdowns as well.

Ward's dynamic ability with a big arm and playmaking with his legs offers substantial upside to any team in the portal that needs a quarterback. Having said that, his inconsistency and sometimes head-scratching decision-making make him someone who a program will have to be confident that they can coach him up a bit more within an offense to limit his mistakes.

Frankly, Ward would be a candidate on this list regardless. However, my read on the situation is that he likely ends up at either Ohio State or USC, two programs and head coaches with Ryan Day and Lincoln Riley who we know can mine elite production out of highly talented players, especially with the weaponry they'll put around him in addition to the scheme. So because of that, I'm considering Cam Ward a Top 3 candidate to win the Heisman going into next season.