With the college football season winding down and the Heisman race heating up, it appears as if it’s a two-man race. Coming down between Colorado receiver and corner Travis Hunter or Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty. Right now, the favorite to win the top award in all of college football is the Colorado standout Hunter, with many analysts in agreeance with this. Head Coach Deion Sanders has even come out stating that he believes Hunter is the best player in the country. But numbers don’t lie, numbers aren’t biased.
How The Heisman Finalist Stack Up
Hunter gets a lot of attention for playing both ways, something not done often at the college or pro level. The Colorado star has 1,036 receiving yards and 11 touchdown catches. While adding three interceptions and a forced fumble on the defensive side of the ball.
There is simply no doubt that Hunter is a star and a very good player on both sides of the ball, but he is only top 10 in two categories regarding his own positions let alone the entire country. Hunter ranks sixth in receptions and is tied for eighth in receiving touchdowns. That says he is a very good player, but it shouldn’t demand he is the best in all of college football.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty has been the best at his position and it’s not even close. Jeanty has 2,062 rushing yards (570 more than second place back) and 27 rushing touchdowns to top it off. To put that into perspective the only running backs to ever top 2,000 yards and 27 touchdowns through 11 games in a college season are, Barry Sanders and Ricky Williams. Jeanty has also added 102 yards and another touchdown receiving this season. The Boise State back ranks first in every major category for running backs.
Is The Heisman A Popularity Contest?
It’s hard to believe that Travis Hunter would get the attention he does if he didn’t play for Deion Sanders. There is no denying he is a skilled athlete and will most likely be one of the top picks in next year’s NFL Draft. But high snap count and playing on both sides of the ball doesn’t justify being the only reason to win the Heisman trophy.
While Hunter is exciting and plays for the hot new popular team, Ashton Jeanty is carving his name into the history books of college football. This shouldn’t be as much of a discussion as it has been, this shouldn’t be a close race. This should be Jeanty’s Heisman to lose. With Boise State primed to be in the College Football Playoffs largely thanks to their superstar tailback, we might see this race become more in favor for the history making running back. This all begs the question, is the Heisman trophy for the best player in the country or the most popular good player?
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