The 2023 Heisman Trophy finalists
The GIST: After a season of jaw-dropping performances, the four Heisman Trophy finalists — three transfer quarterbacks (QBs) and one wide receiver (WR) — will head to NYC for tomorrow’s 8 p.m. ET award ceremony on ESPN. Only one will pack his bags for the Heisman House…who ya got?
The favorite: Thanks to eye-popping stats the other finalists can’t touch, No. 13 LSU QB Jayden Daniels — who won AP Player of the Year yesterday — is the frontrunner. But the Tigers’ lackluster defense earned ’em three losses that kept LSU out of both the SEC ’ship and the New Year’s Six bowl games — and that low profile could hurt Daniels’ odds.
The finalist: No. 2 Washington QB Michael Penix Jr.’s best argument for taking home the hardware? He’s the only finalist to make the four-team College Football Playoff. The nation’s leader in passing yards, Penix’s ability to show up in big moments helped keep his Huskies undefeated this season. Plus, he has the best signature celly.
The longshot: QB Bo Nix topped the Heisman field for much of the regular season thanks to his roughly one billion TDs for No. 8 Oregon. His chances dipped after his Ducks fell to Penix’s Washington for the second time in last weekend’s Pac-12 Championship, but hey — long shots are kind of Nix’s thing.
The dark horse: If No. 7 Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (yes, the son of that Marvin Harrison) snags the trophy, he’ll be just the fourth non-QB Heisman winner this century. Considering that QB bias and the dominance of the other finalists, Harrison’s odds are slim — perhaps unfairly so, given his incredible highlight reel.
