10 Underclassmen with Best Shot at 2019 Heisman Trophy
The Oklahoma Sooners boast the past two Heisman Trophy winners in senior quarterback Baker Mayfield and junior quarterback Kyler Murray, and they expect to have another this year with Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts.
But when was the last time an underclassman won college football's top individual honor?
That, of course, was when Louisville sophomore and current Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson won the 2016 award. Florida State's Jameis Winston won as a freshman in 2013, just after Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel did the same one year earlier. So, yeah, it happens.
But who are the underclassman candidates in 2019? We know 2018 runner-up Tua Tagovailoa is a good bet to battle for the award, but he's a junior. Hurts is a senior, and Wisconsin junior running back Jonathan Taylor doesn't qualify, either.
More freshmen and sophomores than you might believe still serve as legitimate candidates. Several others are fringe threats.
Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle and running back Trey Sanders, Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim, Miami quarterback Tate Martell, Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, Oregon State running back Jermar Jefferson, Kansas running back Pooka Williams Jr. and Georgia running back Zamir White all narrowly missed inclusion.
Let's take a look at the top 10 underclassmen candidates who wound up on the list. As always, make your opinions known in the comments.
Alan Bowman, QB, Texas Tech
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If a featured candidate could post legitimate Heisman Trophy numbers but sneak up on you, it would be Texas Tech sophomore quarterback Alan Bowman.
Putting a signal-caller learning a new system on a list like this is always risky, but several guys fit that description here. Yes, the transitions could wind up disastrous, but best-case scenarios might emerge if the offenses fit the skill sets.
No quarterback would scoff at former Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury's pass-happy program, but new coach Matt Wells is another quarterback-friendly mentor. Just ask Utah State's Jordan Love, who was one of college football's best players a year ago. Former Aggie Chuckie Keeton also finished with gaudy numbers under Wells before injuries derailed his career.
Bowman is hoping for much of the same—aside from the injury part, at least.
The Red Raiders gunslinger was dynamic a season ago before a partially collapsed lung cut short his promising freshman season. With 2,638 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight games, including a 408-yard performance against Kansas, a 397-yard showing against Oklahoma State and a ridiculous 605-yard, five-touchdown explosion against Houston, he became one of the toasts of the Big 12.
The ability to churn out "Holy cow!" statistics is there, but will he be consistent in a new system? Also, will the Red Raiders win enough to keep him in the conversation?
Bowman plus Wells could equal big numbers.
Kennedy Brooks, RB, Oklahoma
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At this point, you haven't watched enough Sooners games the past few years if you produce a Heisman Trophy list without an Oklahoma player.
Head coach Lincoln Riley's offense is foolproof, and Alabama graduate transfer Jalen Hurts is a good bet to knock on the door of a third consecutive honor in Norman. Junior receiver CeeDee Lamb wouldn't be a bad gamble, either.
But sophomore running back Kennedy Brooks may surprise.
Yes, Trey Sermon will be back to take away some carries. Brooks still ranked 47th nationally with 1,056 yards as a freshman last season, and he added a dozen touchdowns on the ground.
No matter how much Hurts improves as a passer, the Sooners offense will look a little different and become a bit more run-centric in '19. Part of this is because Hurts, like Murray, can make things happen with his feet.
Brooks is good enough to carry the offense on his own merits, though.
It's worth mentioning sophomore running back T.J. Pledger may be good enough to earn carries of his own. If that's the case, Riley will have a good problem to solve with three effective runners in the Oklahoma backfield. But Brooks is a star in the making, and the Mansfield, Texas native should be ready to break out.
JT Daniels, QB, USC
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USC quarterback JT Daniels had a forgettable freshman season in 2018, and some fans might have written him off because of it.
That would be unwise. After all, Daniels reclassified as a 2018 recruit to enroll early with the Trojans. While he was trying to figure out Pac-12 defenses as a true freshman, he should have been shredding high schools at Mater Dei.
For whatever reason, Daniels never could thrive in Tee Martin's offense, which is probably why the team relieved Martin of his duties as offensive coordinator before he landed at his alma mater, Tennessee. The offseason has been a tumultuous one for the Trojans, as well.
After head coach Clay Helton kept his job, he hired Kliff Kingsbury to run the offense, only to watch him bolt to the Arizona Cardinals. The ensuing search turned up a young star in Graham Harrell, who left North Texas to join USC as offensive coordinator.
The Trojans hope it's a perfect marriage.
"This offense is going to require a whole lot of energy and a lot of effort to keep it going," Daniels told the Orange County Register's Joey Kaufman. "It's a high-tempo offense. We don't run a lot of plays, but we run 'em real fast."
How the coaching staff meshes with Daniels, who completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2018, will be vital for their job security.
The quarterback has all the skills, and Harrell's offenses were dynamic with the Mean Green. Things should slow down considerably for Daniels during his sophomore season, and he'll post big numbers while making the Trojans offense dangerous if that happens.
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John Emery Jr., RB, LSU
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When Leonard Fournette was in high school, he talked about winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman at LSU. Unfortunately for him and the Tigers, that didn't happen.
The latest elite Bayou Bengals running back from the home state isn't talking a bunch of noise while coming out of Destrehan High School, but John Emery Jr. could still turn into a superstar.
If you want an incoming freshman running back who can vie for college football's top honor in his first year, betting on Alabama's Trey Sanders or Michigan's Zach Charbonnet makes sense. But neither is virtually guaranteed carries like Emery.
He's the nation's second-ranked running back, according to the 247Sports Composite (first overall for 247Sports). The 5'11", 210-pound former high school star also has the clearest path to a starting job after Nick Brossette exhausted his eligibility.
Head coach Ed Orgeron will give a shot at the gig to Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who ran for 658 yards and seven touchdowns in relief of Brossette a season ago. Incoming freshman Tyrion Davis, as well as Chris Curry and Tae Provens, will have opportunities, too.
But Emery is a next-level playmaker who has the ability to bruise defenses between the tackles and break outside for huge gains. He'll be hurt considerably by the fact he's not a mid-term enrollee going through spring drills, but he's too good to keep off the field.
Will that happen early enough in the season to get the Heisman hype rolling? That depends on what kind of first impression he makes this summer.
Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
5 of 10
If the nation is eager to watch one player lead a top-notch program, it should focus on Ohio State's Justin Fields.
A year ago, Fields had just as much hype out of high school as Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and USC's JT Daniels, but Jake Fromm blocked his path at Georgia. Still, he headed to Athens and took his chances at beating out the incumbent.
That wasn't the wisest move.
A year later, Fields left the Bulldogs for the Ohio State Buckeyes and now steps into an ideal situation with a new coach in Ryan Day who lured him to Columbus and a brand new offense led by passing game coordinator Mike Yurcich.
Everybody has a clean slate. And though Fields technically has to win the job, he won't fail to do so. These are Fields' Buckeyes, and they'll sink or swim with the talented dual-threat quarterback.
So many weapons at receiver and running back surround him that Field is set up to step into his sophomore season and post huge numbers. He might not post passing records like predecessor Dwayne Haskins, but it helps that Day helped formulate last year's game plan.
Now the full-time head coach, Day will put Fields in ideal situations, and the quarterback will quickly settle into his new role. It won't take him long to become one of the Big Ten's brightest stars.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
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Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa may be the top returning Heisman Trophy contender, but Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, a rising sophomore, is nipping right at his heels as college football's most polished young signal-caller.
As a matter of fact, Lawrence is probably the most polished young quarterback since Peyton Manning. He's that good, and the 6'6" gunslinger proved as much a season ago by unseating Kelly Bryant as the Tigers' starting quarterback and upstaging Tagovailoa in the national championship game.
All the then-freshman from Cartersville, Georgia did was complete 65.2 percent of his passes for 3,280 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions while leading head coach Dabo Swinney's team to a spotless record and a national title.
"He just does his job, shows up, does everything you ask, and he's a special kid, off the field and just on the field too," former Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said of Lawrence on The Jim Rome Show (via USA Today's Michelle R. Martinelli). "You can see that arm—the way he can sling it, the way he can throw it around. That special talent speaks for itself."
Among the pool of underclassmen, Lawrence is easily the frontrunner for the award. At this point, it's really just a matter of how high he can surge and whether anybody can topple the Tigers. This is a team that could have four legitimate Heisman candidates in Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and receivers Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins.
With that much talent around him, Lawrence just needs to make it all hum. He does that and so much more. You'd better pay attention to him because college football talents like this don't come around often.
Adrian Martinez, QB, Nebraska
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Adrian Martinez is the most overlooked quarterback in the country.
The sophomore signal-caller can do everything with the football in his hands, and he's the perfect playmaker in head coach Scott Frost's offense at Nebraska. While there may be a quarterback competition in Lincoln this spring, it's in name only. The only real question deals with who will back up Martinez.
Frost told the Omaha World-Herald's Sam McKewon he wants Martinez to grow as a leader this spring, and he's working toward that: "He's naturally going to be one of our leaders, but I want to see it go beyond that. I want to see him be the guy that's setting the tone for the entire offense and the entire team. His play on the field is going to take care of itself. It's hard to be a real leader as a true freshman, but it’s time for him to step into that role."
Despite battling injuries as a true freshman early last year, Martinez was still brilliant. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 2,617 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing for 629 yards and eight more scores.
Are those Heisman-worthy numbers? Far from it. But Frost helped mold McKenzie Milton into a dual-threat force capable of posting huge numbers, and Martinez may be even more talented than the UCF quarterback.
After a year in the system with an offense geared toward quarterbacks throwing up Xbox numbers, Martinez could grab a bunch of national headlines, especially if the Cornhuskers take a major step toward regained national prominence.
This could be an exciting year in Lincoln, and Martinez is a massive reason why.
Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue
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Several past players have impacted the game in a variety of ways and boosted their Heisman Trophy-winning resumes with do-it-all skill sets. Michigan's Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson come to mind. So do Notre Dame's Tim Brown and USC's Reggie Bush.
Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm will try similar things with Rondale Moore in 2019.
The rising sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky burst onto the college scene a season ago and finished with 114 catches for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also ran 21 times for 213 yards and two scores, added 82 punt return yards and racked up 662 yards as a kick returner.
The Boilermakers don't have a lot of standouts like him, though the presence of fellow 4-star prospect David Bell in the 2019 class will help remove some of the pressure.
If quarterback Elijah Sindelar can provide Purdue with the same level of play David Blough did a season ago, Moore's production will go up. He may not catch more passes, but he'll gain possession in space with less attention focused on him. As he proved last year, he can do big things when he gets his hands on the ball.
Aside from Alabama's Jerry Jeudy, he may be the receiver most likely to win the Heisman because of his ability to change a game on offense and special teams.
That versatility is the reason he earned the Paul Hornung Award, which goes to college football's most versatile player. He also won Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten and was a first-team all-conference selection, as well as a consensus All-American.
He told the Louisville Courier Journal's Rana Cash he wants to "focus on the little things and keep the team chemistry and become more of a leader and then ultimately in the end have a shot at the NFL."
When asked about the Heisman Trophy, he replied, "Sounds good."
Look out for Moore as a leading candidate.
Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson
9 of 10
Early in his first season at Clemson, Justyn Ross was overshadowed by Tee Higgins, who was a year older and had been in the Tigers system longer.
The freshman didn't take long to emerge from that massive shadow.
He was the Robin to Trevor Lawrence's Batman in the College Football Playoff, torching Notre Dame for six catches, 148 yards and two touchdowns, then blazing past home-state Alabama with six more catches for 153 yards and a score in the 44-16 title-game beatdown.
That two-game breakout gave him a clean 1,000 receiving yards on the season to go along with nine touchdowns and a 21.7 yards-per-catch average.
What will he do for an encore? If he stays healthy, there's no telling. The 6'4", 210-pound rising sophomore from Phenix City, Alabama is one of college football's top overall athletes, and he can do everything in the passing game.
With Lawrence throwing to him, Ross' ceiling is dizzying. He'll continue to compete with Higgins for the top receiving marks on the title-defending roster, and whoever wins that battle may just be college football's top overall wideout.
Ross is physical enough to battle defensive backs for the ball and fast enough to scoot past them, as he proved time and time again throughout the playoffs. Look for him to be showcased even more in 2019.
Though no receiver has won the Heisman Trophy since Desmond Howard in 1991, Ross, Rondale Moore and Jerry Jeudy comprise a trio of candidates who could change that.
Christian Turner, RB, Michigan
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Redshirt freshman running back Christian Turner is another wild card.
Featuring a player with just 20 collegiate carries for 95 yards requires a leap of faith, but things are lining up for the Michigan Wolverines runner. Not only is incoming true freshman Zach Charbonnet out this spring, but Turner is turning heads. Plus, Karan Higdon is gone, which creates a 1,178-yard hole that needs filling.
New offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has a seasoned quarterback in Shea Patterson and a bunch of capable receivers, but he needs a workhorse toting the rock. The 5'11", 200-pound Turner can run between the tackles and kick it up a notch after getting through the second level.
"I'm happy with our running backs," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told WolverineWire's Isaiah Hole. "Christian Turner has surged from bowl practices to bowl game and then since then, he's been A++ in terms of how he's going about his business. He is really becoming a rising player, no question about it."
The Buford, Georgia native will wind up becoming yet another Peach State steal for Harbaugh.
College teams need multiple running backs in today's game, and Charbonnet is good enough to take carries away from Turner. But the latter will be the offense's bell-cow back, and running the ball effectively is important in the Big Ten.
Turner is a star in the making. All he needs is an opportunity, and he'll get that in 2019.
All recruiting information is from 247Sports, and rankings are from the 247Sports composite.
Brad Shepard covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @Brad_Shepard.
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