Jameis Winston Is Your Heisman Front-Runner, and It's Not Even Close

With Florida State trying its best to put away Duke once and for all it became clear who would be winning the 2013 Heisman Trophy. 

You could say that it became obvious once the state attorney's office declared it wouldn't be pursuing charges against Jameis Winston in a December 2012 sexual assault case, it also became official that he would be winning the Heisman. Any other plausible competitors had fallen off in dynamic fashion, leaving the redshirt freshman by his lonesome on the top of the predictions. 

But as the clock read 2:38 in the third, Winston took it upon himself to tuck the ball and fight for a touchdown, doing everything it took to give his team another six points:

	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Rushing Touchdowns	Completion Percentage
Jameis Winston	3490	35	8	3	68.6
Johnny Manziel	3732	33	13	8	69.1
AJ McCarron	2676	26	5	0	67.6
Jordan Lynch	2676	23	7	22	63.1

It was the fitting final touchdown for Winston before the Seminoles go to prepare for the national championship game, more than likely against SEC champion Auburn. It was in the same fashion as all of the exciting plays he's had this year, hard-nosed and determined. 

The struggle to find somebody who even qualifies to finish second shows not only how obvious it is that Winston will hoist the stiff-armed trophy, but in fact how muddled the Heisman race has become. 

Johnny Manziel was supposed to be able to repeat as Heisman winner, and then Texas A&M finished the year in terrible fashion. Andre Williams was a dark-horse contender, but he suffers from being on a mediocre Boston College team and got hurt in his season final. AJ McCarron was thought to be a potential threat, and then his hopes came to a fiery end when Alabama fell to Auburn at season's end. 

Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois stood as the final viable contender to steal a vote from Winston, but on Friday night, his Huskies were dominated by Bowling Green, he threw two interceptions and their undefeated season came to an end. There will be two or three names attending with Winston, if only so that he won't have to sit all by himself when the recipient of the award is announced.

Winston has lead the Seminoles to the BCS National Championship game for the first time since 2000, set the NCAA records for passing touchdowns and passing yards for a freshman, and was the first freshman to win ACC Player of the Year.

Come next week, he'll be able to add Heisman winner to his 2013 resume.