This was a weird week for the Heisman watch. I had to keep off hot players such as Kelly Bryant and Rashaad Penny while keeping on colder players such as Josh Rosen and Derrius Guice. I had a hard time deciding these rankings and honestly, I'm not 100% sure about the ones you're about to read. You could make an argument for just about every entry here, except for #1 (who is the consensus favorite pretty much everywhere). Nonetheless, let's get started.
10. Jalen Hurts, Alabama (Last Week: 9)- You could argue that Hurts does not deserve to be anywhere near the Heisman watch, but I could actually argue that 10 is too low of a spot for him. He's the quarterback of the #1 team in the country and he has yet to have a bad game this season (granted, it's only three weeks long). Against Colorado State, Hurts threw for two touchdowns and 248 yards while adding 103 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
9. Brice Love, Stanford (Last Week: 10)- Stanford may have fallen off the rankings but their star RB is still very much involved in the Heisman race. After all, the loss to San Diego State can in no way be blamed on him. The Cardinals' passing game was atrocious as starting quarterback Kelly Chryst went 9 for 20 with 72 yards, zero touchdowns, and two picks. The defense meanwhile, gave up more than 300 yards of total offense. Love on the other hand, ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
8. Josh Rosen, UCLA (Last Week: 6)- After all the credit Rosen got for engineering a comeback against Texas A&M in Week 1, he deserves a lot of the blame for the Bruins losing to unranked Memphis in a close game. Rosen did account for five touchdowns but he also threw two crucial interceptions that crippled the team.
7. Derrius Guice, LSU (Last Week: 3)- Guice has fallen off most other Heisman watch lists but I'm going to give him a little credit here. He finds himself in a similar position as Love. His team lost in Week 3 (to Mississippi State) but the blame really falls on the passing game and defense. Guice ran for 76 yards and 15 carries. It wasn't a great performance, but it's enough to keep him around.
6. Royce Freeman, Oregon (Last Week: 7)- I honestly did not expect Freeman to be around for this long. By this time last year any chance he had of going to New York had vaporized. Now, he finds himself knocking on the door of the Top 5. Against top-tier NFL draft prospect Josh Allen and Wyoming, Freeman ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns as his Ducks won 49-13. It must also be noted that Freeman caught a pass for 50 yards.
5. Lamar Jackson, LSU (Last Week: 2)- Yes, Louisville got pounded by Clemson, but Jackson was definitely not the reason why. He got almost no help from his teammates. The Louisville D was utterly dumbfounded by Dabo Swinney's offense and Jackson's receivers found themselves dropping catches far more than they probably would have liked. Despite all of the incompetence that could be found along the Louisville sideline, Jackson threw for three touchdowns and 317 yards while also adding 64 yards on 17 carries. Needless to say, those 64 yards were more than the rest of the team combined.
4. Sam Darnold, USC (Last Week: 4)- I always struggle with ranking Darnold. The only really great game he has had this year was in Week 2 against Stanford. In Week 3, he struggled against unranked Texas much more than he should have. Not only did it take USC two overtime periods to put away the persistent Longhorns, but Darnold's completion percentage was weak (57.14%), he accumulated -12 rushing yards, and he threw two interceptions. Still, USC pulled off the win and that's the most important thing.
3. Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State (Last Week: 8)- It's easy to see a scenario where two quarterbacks from the Sooner State are invited to New York City. Rudolph is certainly doing his part to make sure that happens. The gunslinger threw five touchdowns in the first half as his Cowboys rolled past Pittsburgh.
2. Saquon Barkley, Penn State (Last Week: 5)- In terms of rushing, Barkley was pretty limited against Georgia State. After all, he only ran for 47 yards on 10 carries. That being said, he also caught four passes for 142 yards and one touchdown.
1. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma (Last Week: 1)- As I said in the intro, Mayfield is everyone's pick for the Heisman right now. The man who is drawing comparisons to Seattle's Russell Wilson had s sensational Week 3 as he threw for four touchdowns and 331 yards against Tulsa.
Thanks for reading everyone.
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