The Heisman Trophy 2023 Candidates have been announced as four players will travel to New York City with the hopes of walking away with the famous award. Oddly enough, Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman winner, will not be one of the four after a disappointing season at USC. This year, the four finalists are Jayden Daniels of LSU, Michael Penix Jr. of Washington, Bo Nix of Oregon, and Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State. Let’s break down the top three finalists and I’ll cast my own vote for who should strike the Heisman pose forever.
Jayden Daniels – QB – LSU
Daniels has come a long way after spending the first half of his college career at Arizona State University. Daniels was electric this season for the Tigers and was able to get the job done with both his arm and legs. This might shock some, but he became the first player in FBS history with 350 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in a single game in the Tigers’ Week 11 win over Florida. When you think of all the dual threat quarterbacks, specifically the one who won the award and played at Florida – looking at you Tim Tebow – that is an impressive feat. Daniels helped LSU lead the nation in both yards per game and points per game. He is the heaping favorite according to Vegas at -1400 but voters do tend to vote for players whose teams were at least close to the College Football Playoff. It’s hard to make a case for Daniels when LSU still lost three games and only finished third in their conference.
Michael Pennix Jr. – QB – Washington
Washington being in the College Football Playoff is a huge boost for Pennix Jr. who has an incredible story and was the focus of many nationally televised broadcasts which certainly didn’t hurt his campaign. Pennix comes off as a humble kid with a great story as he has overcome injury time and time again and now has the Huskies fighting for the CFP championship. Pennix threw 33 touchdowns to nine interceptions and lead the nation in passing yards, just edging out Bo Nix for the top spot. He had his Heisman moment in the Pac 12 Championship as he passed for 319 yards and helped Washington score 34 points to beat Oregon.
Bo Nix – QB – Oregon
Shocker, another quarterback. This time it’s Nix who has been a massive success story at Oregon since transferring from Auburn. Nix was an easy candidate to highlight entering the year, and this season he put up the numbers to back up the hype. Nix was second in the nation in passing yards and was tied with Daniels for most passing touchdowns with 40. What killed Nix was the Pac 12 Championship. Vegas had him as the favorite entering the game, but he quickly fell out of the top spot with a loss as he put up season lows in completion percentage and yards. A win in that game may have sealed the award for him. Now, we’ll have to see.
Prediction:
Sorry Marvin Harrison Jr., we all know that this is primarily a quarterback award. My pick is still Nix. He was the favorite for a reason before the Pac 12 Championship. Daniels didn’t have to play in the SEC title game, but who knows what would have happened to his stock had he lost.