If you were to look back at the 2010 favorites to win the Heisman Trophy, Cam Newton’s name would be nowhere on that list. In 2011, RG3 was a name that was mentioned as a possibility but he wasn’t in the top ten when the pre-season odds came out. Last year, Johnny Manziel didn’t sniff a watch list. The recent trend for Heisman trophy winners is that the favorites have been outshined by players that have come from relative obscurity.
With that in mind, I asked a couple of my favorite college football colleagues to join me in trying to predict who might come out of the woodwork to win the 2013 Heisman Trophy. The presentation is an entire season away but that’s the fun of the off-season, discussing topics that will play out in front of our eyes over the next months.
Kevin McGuire of such sites as No2MinuteWarning.com, Crystal Ball Run and Nittany Lions Den and Andrew Coppens of Madtown Badgers and the B1G Time joined me to discuss their early Heisman darkhorse picks. We aren’t talking “heavy favorites” here, but here are some players that could catch magic in a bottle in 2013….
Kevin McGuire: Miami running back Duke Johnson was one of my favorite players to watch last season, and I suspect he will once again be one of the top running backs in the nation this season. I think running backs need to do a little more to get the Heisman pub now with quarterbacks pretty much ruling the day, but if Miami succeeds it will likely be in large part to his rushing production. I think he is capable of having a good enough year for at least consideration for an invite.
Andrew Coppens: I don’t know if you can call him a pure dark horse candidate, but T.J. Yeldon is a name I’m not seeing on a lot of “watch lists” at this point and I am also a huge fan of Jordan Lynch from Northern Illinois. If they can repeat last season’s magic this guy could be your Heisman Trophy winner.
Kevin: Jameis Winston of FSU came into the Seminoles spring game and immediately launched a TD pass on his first play from scrimmage. If you watch closely in the background, you can actually see Clint Trickett approaching Jimbo Fisher after that play and telling him he’s going to transfer. Winston is a RS freshman with big shoes to fill in EJ Manuel but he also plays for a very high profile team that most will have in the Top 15 going into the season. Manziel broke the “freshman” stigma last year with his win. Could we see a repeat this year?
Another guy I like is Michigan’s Devin Gardner. He actually has 40 to 1 odds right now which puts him 22nd on the list but how strange would it be to see him fulfill what some thought Denard Robinson would at Michigan.
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