Heisman Trophy 2023: Making strong arguments for every finalist
The results of the balloting and counting are in, and the winner of the 2023 Heisman Trophy will be revealed on Saturday night on New York City. Penix is the last remaining finalist of the college football playoffs vying for a national championship.
The four finalists, quarterbacks Jayden Daniels of LSU, Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State, Bo Nix of Oregon, and Michael Penix Jr. of Washington, are all in New York City this week getting ready for the big game. Who will therefore win the esteemed prize?
Daniels is the clear favorite after leading the Tigers to a record-breaking season, but there are good reasons for the other players in attendance as well.
Without a doubt, Nix was the country’s most productive quarterback. Of the four finalists, Harrison undoubtedly made the most individual influence.
Apart from stats, Marvin Harrison Jr. is the most gifted receiver in college football. Harrison, a Pro Football Hall of Famer’s son, shares many of his father’s characteristics from his legendary NFL career.
Harrison had a huge impact on Ohio State’s offense this year. Kyle McCord, the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes in his rookie season, has since joined the transfer portal, thus they required an experienced, trustworthy target.
With 67 receptions spanning 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns, Harrison supplied that. This season, he accounted for over one-third of Ohio State’s receiving yards and over half of the team’s touchdown receptions.
Harrison was also harassed 114 times, accounting for almost half of Ohio State quarterbacks’ passing attempts this season. Harrison has it all—length, powerful hands, route running, and speed.
It’s obvious that the Buckeyes offense would’ve performed poorly in Harrison’s absence. Harrison is undoubtedly one of the most notable and influential players in college football right now, based on the evidence presented.
Harrison, who served as Ohio State’s go-to guy when tossing the football this season, was one of the guys most essential to their offense’s smooth operation.
In the biggest games for the Buckeyes, the wide receiver produced several of his best performances. His squad performed best when he did, and they didn’t do well when he didn’t.
In terms of completion percentage, yards, yards per attempt, modified yards per attempt, touchdowns, passer rating, and interceptions, the Oregon quarterback leads the country in all categories with just three.
For a large portion of the season, the Ducks’ offensive was just unstoppable under his direction.
Only the four finalists are invited to the award presenting ceremony. Nineteen of the twenty-two Heisman Trophy winners this century have been quarterbacks, including Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams’ victory last year.
Every quarterback finalist in 2023 has transferred from another school and has played for at least five seasons.
Voting in 2023 is expected to be tighter than in recent years, potentially challenging the 2009 outcome in which Mark Ingram of Alabama defeated Toby Gerhart of Stanford by a mere 28 votes.
Most quarterback transfers do so with the intention of getting immediate playing time. And no, there is no money. This is how college football’s contemporary market operates. Coaches and players alike are searching for a quick solution.
However, Trump’s legal team is going all hard to defend him against 91 criminal allegations spread across four cases and civil lawsuits.
They are bringing up a number of pretrial defenses that might lead to delays or possibly the dismissal of cases completely.
In order to delay the start of his criminal proceedings until after the 2024 presidential election, Trump must contend with concurrent campaigns.
Similar signals were issued last week by a judge in one of Trump’s criminal cases, who noted that “a lot of distinctive variables in play here.”
Judges are acknowledging the possibility of delays but kicking schedule revisions down the road in what has become a multi-jurisdictional play of chicken over the former president’s increasingly complex and ever-changing court calendar.
A trial postponement until February has not been discussed by the judge in one of Trump’s criminal cases, citing “many recent events involving Mr. Trump and his rapidly changing trial schedule.”
Additionally, Trump has a full schedule of back-to-back civil cases into early next year before any of that historic criminal prosecutions are tried to a jury.