Burrow, Fields, Hurts, Young up for Heisman

NEW YORK – Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts and Ohio State teammates quarterback Justin Fields and defensive end Chase Young will join LSU quarterback Joe Burrow as Heisman Trophy finalists.

The top vote-getters for college football’s most famous player of the year award were announced Monday, and three of them were quarterbacks who transferred to their current schools.

Burrow is the clear front-runner to win the Heisman on Saturday night in New York after a record-breaking season, leading the Tigers (13-0) to the top seed in the College Football Playoff.

He would be LSU’s second Heisman winner and first since running back Billy Cannon in 1959. The 60-year gap between Heisman winners would be the longest for any school with multiple recipients. The other finalists were not so obvious even after all the games had been played. Ohio State had three players worthy of consideration in Fields, Young and running back J.K. Dobbins. Fields and Young are the first teammates to be finalists since Oklahoma had quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Dede Westbrook at the Heisman ceremony in 2016.

Hurts is the third Oklahoma quarterback in the last four seasons to be a Heisman finalist, including the last two winners in Kyler Murray and Mayfield.

Quarterbacks have dominated the Heisman over the last two decades, winning 16 of the last 19 trophies.

Burrow left Ohio State and joined LSU in 2018 as a graduate transfer and has already set an SEC record with 48 touchdown passes.

Hurts has passed for 3,634 yards and 32 touchdowns and run for 1,255 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Fields played his freshman season last year at Georgia, but transferred to Ohio State and was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA to play this season. The sophomore has the Buckeyes (13-0) unbeaten and seeded second entering the playoff.

Young is the first exclusively defensive player to be a Heisman finalist since Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finished second behind Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel in 2012. He leads the nation with 16.5 sacks.