Brett McMurphy’s Heisman Ballot: New Names Join Tagovailoa, Haskins

At this point, I’m surprised Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s right knee doesn’t already have its own Twitter account, giving college football fans daily (hourly?) updates on the status of his knee.

Officially, Tagovailoa’s knee is fine. Last week, he aggravated a knee sprain in the third quarter against Missouri. Alabama coach Nick Saban said on Monday Tagovailoa hasn’t missed a day of practice and is “probably better this week than he was last week.”

Saban says they will continue to evaluate Tagovailoa.

And I will continue to evaluate Tagovailoa’s Heisman chances: he will win in a landslide. That is, unless an injury sidelines him during the second half of the season. How dominant has Tagovailoa been this season? He has 35 incompletions and 21 TDs.

While Tagovailoa remains No. 1 on my Heisman ballot, there was a lot of movement in the remaining spots.

I will update my list each Tuesday. However, I will not reveal my official Heisman ballot in the first week of December. The Heisman trust prohibits Heisman voters from disclosing their ballot until after the Heisman ceremony on Dec. 8.

 

My current top three:

1. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

Tagovailoa says his knee is fine. Nothing to see here, move along. At least that’s the message from everyone in Tuscaloosa. Against Missouri last week, Tagovailoa extended his streak of not playing into the fourth quarter to seven games, but still found time to toss three more TDs. He did complete a season-low 54.5 percent of his passes. For the season, he has 21 TD passes, no interceptions and has a 71 percent completion rate. Maybe he’ll even play in the fourth quarter one of these days.

Up next: Alabama visits Tennessee Saturday.

2. Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State

Haskins continues to torch Big Ten defenses and jumps up to second on my ballot. For a second consecutive week, Haskins completed 33 of 44 passes – last week against Minnesota, before that against Indiana. He’s topped 400 yards in consecutive games. His 28 TD passes are the nation’s best.

Up next: Ohio State visits Purdue Saturday.

3. Kyler Murray, Oklahoma

At the halfway point of the Sooners’ season, I’m not sure many people expected these numbers from Murray: 21 TD passes and three interceptions. Even though the Sooners were off last week, Murray moves back into my top three. Murray has performed exceptionally replacing last year’s Heisman winner Baker Mayfield. Whether Murray remains a top three candidate depends on his performance down the stretch against Bedlam rival Oklahoma State and at West Virginia.

Up next: Oklahoma visits TCU Saturday.

 

If the Heisman would expand its ballot to five players (something I’ve been a proponent for in order to get more players to New York and asked the Heisman trust to consider – unfortunately they said no):

4. Darrell Henderson, Memphis

Henderson – or as I prefer to call him “The Human First Down” – is averaging a remarkable 10.3 yards per carry. Henderson had a career-high 31 carries for 199 yards in last week’s loss to UCF. Henderson is the nation’s leading rusher, averaging 161.9 yards per game.

Up next: Memphis visits Missouri.

5. Gardner Minshew, Washington State

To show I’m ahead of the curve, I’ll go with Minshew in my fifth spot. Minshew isn’t on many (any?) Heisman lists – but I’m going to beat the rush. That will change after Saturday’s home game against Oregon. Minshew, a transfer from East Carolina, has thrived under Mike Leach. Minshew leads the nation, averaging 403.7 yards per game, and his worst game was throwing for “only” 319 yards in the season-opening blowout of Wyoming.

Up next: Washington State hosts Oregon Saturday.

 

Others who could move into my top five (in alphabetical order):

Travis Etienne, Clemson

Will Grier, West Virginia

Justin Herbert, Oregon

McKenzie Milton, UCF

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin

 

My Heisman winner based on last week only:

Nate Stanley, Iowa