RUNNING BACKS ON THE RISE IN HEISMAN RACE
Only once in the last five years has a running back finished in the top two in the Heisman Trophy voting. That was last season, when former Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon finished a distant second to Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.
You’ll need to go back to 2009 to find the last Heisman-winning running back, Alabama’s Mark Ingram, and a season when running backs led the charge: Ingram and Stanford’s Toby Gerhart finished one-two in the final voting, and there were more running backs, three, than quarterbacks, two, among the six leading votegetters.
This year could see a similar result. The early Heisman race — admittedly, the very early Heisman race — finds a number of running backs leading the charge, with most from the Southeastern Conference.
1. TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin
Boykin was as productive as expected against Stephen F. Austin, throwing four touchdown passes in helping the Horned Frogs to a 70-7 win against an opponent that had given Big 12 Conference rival Texas Tech trouble in its opener. Boykin has been steady through two games, but his Heisman push won’t hit high gear until TCU starts league play.
2. Alabama running back Derrick Henry
Henry has scored three touchdowns in each of Alabama’s first two games. That’s a pretty good start for the junior, who has be- come a willing leader for an offense still searching for consistent production at quarterback. When it comes to Henry’s Heisman campaign, my fear is Nick Saban settles on a quarterback, then Lane Kiffin calls for a pass on three of every four plays.
3. Georgia running back Nick Chubb
Chubb is averaging 8.8 yards a carry through two games, which would seem unsustainable if not for the fact he averaged 8.2 yards a carry during the final six games of last season. In other words, this sort of production should carry into the heart of SEC play.
4. Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott
Cardale Jones hasn’t performed well enough to justify a spot on this list, and Braxton Miller didn’t make quite the same impact against Hawaii as he during his highlight-reel performance in the opener against Virginia Tech. That leaves the most reliable member of the offense, Elliott, as the Ohio State skill player most deserving of being listed among the early Heisman favorites.
5. Southern California quarterback Cody Kessler
Through two games, Kessler has thrown seven touchdown passes to four different receivers, averaged 11.4 yards per attempt and tossed just 12 incompletions. That’s pretty good, even if the quality of opponent isn’t: The Trojans opened with Arkansas State and Idaho.
6. LSU running back Leonard Fournette
Fournette had twice as many carries, 28, as LSU had pass attempts in the victory at Mississippi State. This will be the Tigers’ offensive approach this fall, raising concerns about the team’s ability to win the SEC, but it should give Fournette the touches he needs to be a major Heisman contender.
7. Florida State running back Dalvin Cook
Speaking of teams with quarterback issues: FSU isn’t sure what it will get from Everett Golson on a weekly basis, meaning Cook will be the undisputed lead option for an offense still working out the kinks.
8. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson
Watson hasn’t been running much through two games, which is partially by design — the Tigers haven’t needed to unleash that option against inferior competi- tion — and perhaps partially a result of last year’s knee injury. As time goes on, look for Watson to become more and more comfortable acting as a true dual-threat quarterback.
9. California quarterback Jared Goff
Though it’s probably insane to extrapolate full-season numbers off two games, Goff is on pace to throw for 4,100 yards and 40 touchdowns for the Golden Bears in 2015 — which seems pretty much accurate, actually. That Goff would have All-American totals was expected, so his Heisman campaign hinges on California’s ability to win games in the Pac-12 Conference.
10. Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch
Let’s save the last spot for a wild card. Lynch has quietly turned into one of the nation’s most intriguing quarterback prospects under the tutelage of Justin Fuente and Memphis’ coaching staff. He completed 22 of 25 attempts for 354 yards and two scores against Kansas, averaging 14.2 yards per attempt in a 55-23 romp. If Lynch keeps this up, that Oct. 17 matchup vs. Mississippi will be a must-see matchup.