A Rare Heisman Year

College football’s greatest beauty contest, the Heisman Award, will challenge this award’s voters more than it has in many years. Like kids at a toy shop, voters have tended to reach for the shiniest toy on the shelf when casting their ballot. Add in a dash of recency bias, and you have the recipe for a selection that is the coolest ‘now’ thing in football, not the nations best player for the entirety of the year. This year’s Heisman winner will certainly have had their winning votes cast with these flaws at the fore.

The 2024 finalists include dynamic two way player Travis Hunter, explosive running back Ashton Jeanty, and quarterbacks Cam Ward and Dillon Gabriel. Twenty of the last twenty-four Heismans have been awarded to quarterbacks, so that eliminates Jeanty and Hunter; voters will just pick between Ward and Gabriel, right? In the great words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend!”

Cam Ward is a unique story of football perseverance. Ward began his career in 2020 with two lights out seasons at Football Championship Subdivision level University of the Incarnate Word. Having shown dominance with UIW, Ward moved on to College Football Playoff eligible Washington State University of the PAC-10 in 2022. Still shining individually, but without a strong enough supporting cast to generate a nationally contending team, along with WSU losing the musical chairs game that was the dissolving of the PAC-10, Ward took his talents to Miami.

Ward’s heroics at Miami were superb all season. Without him in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes would not have been a relevant player in the ACC, or in the CFP rankings. His numbers on the field make him the best statistical quarterback on the ballot, but that won’t be enough to earn him the top trophy. Alas, enter recency bias. Miami crumbled down the stretch with November losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. Those two losses kept Miami out of the ACC championship game, locked them out of the CFP, and dipped Ward’s Heisman winning campaign hopes. Cam Ward may deserve better than the ballot results will show. I don’t foresee Ward hauling home the prize this evening.

Dillon Gabriel is the shiny toy on the shelf that the voting kids are staring at. Like Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel has driven across the country with a few logo changes of his own. Starting at University of Central Florida, making a pit stop at Oklahoma, then settling in at the Oregon, Dillon Gabriel has made a name for himself with his efficiency for each of the teams he has played for. Gabriel holds the distinction of being the only Heisman candidate playing for an undefeated program. Dan Lanning’s leadership, recruiting, and on field coaching has undefeated Oregon in the drivers seat for a National Championship. I question whether or not Gabriel could have generated the same success as Ward had he instead played for the U. Dillon Gabriel has not done quite enough individually to woo the first place votes necessary to earn the beautiful bronze 45 pound paperweight.

”I like to say that I’m a Christian, cleverly disguised as an All-American running back.” The important and insightful words of Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty cannot be overlooked. If the award was given to the ‘most humble person who is also the best college football player in America’, then Jeanty would be a shoe in winner. His name has been bantered about with the likes of Barry Sanders, the best college running back of all time (and in my book, the best NFL running back of all time).

Jeanty’s play for the Broncos is the reason their team is in the CFP with only one blemish on their season record, a nail biting loss to Oregon in early September. While his numbers are in the Barry Sanders ballpark this year, Sanders encountered far better defenses week in and week out in his 1988 Heisman season playing with Oklahoma State, than Jeanty has for his Broncos from the non Power Four Mountain West Conference. I’d be thrilled if Jeanty is selected for the award, but in the end I don’t see him getting the nod as the voters are savvy to the competition factor for successful running backs.

Colorado Buffaloes football has been the equivalent of a movie studio since Deion Sanders came to Boulder as head coach. Bringing his sons Shadeur and Shilo with him from Jackson State University to rebuild a Buffs squad that had won just one game in 2022, Coach Sanders has returned Colorado to national relevance, narrowly missing out on the Big-12 title game in his second season on the sideline. Neon-Deion has not disappointed with his media shenanigans on display throughout his various coaching tenures, and he has been vociferous about his son Shadeur’s omission from the Heisman finalist list.

Shadeur’s play has been exceptional (and could have been even better had the Buffaloes secured an offensive line that could have better protected him). Coach Sanders might be right about Shadeur deserving to be on the list. However, there’s another Buffaloes player that is a finalist, and is my pick to hoist the trophy at the Lincoln Center in New York City tonight.

Travis Hunter hopped on the Colorado train with Shadeur and Shilo when Coach Sanders took the reins in Boulder in late 2022. Past college football players have played ‘two way’ ball including Coach Prime himself; Hunter deserves credit similar to what Deion garnered back in his day. Hunter’s play if only playing on one side of the ball would merit consideration as a top player. At wide receiver, his 14 touchdowns and more than 1,000 yards receiving made him a threat on nearly every offensive down. As Colorado’s #1 defender at cornerback, he was a velcro defender who could out high point just about any receiver’s catch attempt. Opposing quarterbacks played keep away from him most of the year, and yet Hunter still corralled 4 interceptions.

I am not a fan of the grandeur Deion Sanders and his team have generated at Colorado. Sanders and sons (and Travis Hunter) have done enough camera mugging to ensure they are not forgotten in the college football landscape. I’d prefer instead that the attention for any team be earned solely on the field. But along with the Deion Sanders circus, Colorado did get one of the most miraculous program turnarounds in the history of the sport, a huge leap in booster revenue, and developed a Heisman candidate like no other in Travis Hunter.

The Heisman voters should elect Travis Hunter as the 2024 award winner. With respect to Michigan great Charles Woodson, Hunter is the best multi way player since 1991 winner Desmond Howard. If Deion Sanders’ season long media attention getting behaviors for Hunter were stripped away, and personal bias toward a great person in Jeanty forgotten, the committee would cast their votes based only upon play. In that idealistic world, Travis Hunter would surely earn the annual honor. Deion’s and Travis’ attention getting ways with the media this season have only augmented Hunter’s candidacy. If he doesn’t win, prepare for endless whining from Deion Sanders that the wrong player was chosen. I wouldn’t agree with the whining, but I’d agree that the Heisman committee missed the mark.