The 2017 Heisman Trophy winner will be announced this Saturday night, and that winner will be chosen from three finalists: Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Stanford running back Bryce Love and Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the reigning recipient of the most esteemed individual award in college football.
UNC fans should be well aware of Jackson's abilities in particular, given his six-touchdown, 525-yard performance against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill earlier this season.
Multiple outlets such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation and several others have already deemed Mayfield as the runaway favorite. According to Bovada, a sports betting website, the latest projections had him at 1/20 odds to win — although that was almost three weeks ago. This is due to the fact that Bovada and other sports gambling websites pulled the option to bet on the Heisman results in late November due to Mayfield being such a large frontrunner. Although Mayfield is the overwhelming favorite, I want to present one thought-provoking question.
Should he be?
It's my belief that Jackson, who is one of the most electrifying players in the history of college football, should repeat as the Heisman Trophy winner.
By looking at the numbers, it's quite evident that Jackson’s improvement over the offseason has made him even more of a dynamic offensive threat than last year’s Heisman campaign, albeit without nearly as much media attention. For comparison, Jackson has enhanced his completion percentage to 60.4 percent (from 56.2 percent last season) and increased his passing average to 290.8 yards per game (from 272.5 yards per game last season). He decreased his turnover rate to only six interceptions for the season (from nine interceptions last season) while having thrown more passes, at 33.3 attempts per game (from 31.5 attempts per game last season). He is also the first player to ever throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000 in consecutive seasons.
How does he compare to Mayfield, you may wonder? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Jackson is leading the country in total offense at 411 yards per game, which is more than 50 yards higher than Mayfield’s average, who's ranked No. 4 in the same category. Additionally, Jackson also edged out Mayfield in total yards for the whole season, even though he had played fewer games (4932 yards in 12 games for Jackson and 4,650 yards in 13 games for Mayfield).
Despite the fact that Jackson’s accomplishments are remarkable, the former Heisman Trophy winner was cursed with a team that was unable to live up to his enormous stature, as Louisville finished the 2017 regular season with a relatively mediocre 8-4 record considering their prolific quarterback. Only three players in the history of college football have won the Heisman with teams that had suffered four or more losses during the season, and no one has achieved this feat since 1969, which is very discouraging for Jackson’s chances.
