By Jordan Long
The 2019 Heisman Trophy finalists have been announced. They are quarterback of the University of Oklahoma Jalen Hurts, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, and Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. All of them are deserving of this award. Let’s take a look at their seasons and who should take home the hardware.
Hurts transferred to the University of Oklahoma after spending 3 years at the University of Alabama. Alabama went with junior Tua Tagovailoa as their quarterback. Hurts moved on and finished his college career at Oklahoma.
This season Hurts went 12-1 winning the Big 12 Conference Championship for the Sooners. Oklahoma earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. They will take on #1 ranked LSU.
Hurts ended the year with 3,634 passing yards, 32 touchdowns. He was reading the defenses to find his open receivers. Those catches went for 1st downs or longer. His average yards per pass was 11.8 yards. Hurts rarely turned the ball over with 7 interceptions. Hurts used his legs to run for first downs when his receivers weren’t open, totaling 1,255 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
Hurts was pressured and Oklahoma’s offensive line had a difficult time protecting him. Hurts was sacked 21 times this year. Oklahoma is lucky those sacks didn’t cost them field position or games.
Joe Burrow is the favorite to win the award. His stats show how terrific he was for the LSU Tigers. Burrow passed for 4,715 yards in the tough SEC Conference. He was playing against some of the best college defenses in the country. His line allowed him to have time to chuck the ball to his wideouts for them to gain yards for touchdowns and first downs. He ended with 48 touchdowns. Burrow didn’t take risks downfield or throw the ball into double coverage with a total of 6 interceptions. Burrow’s regular season led the Tigers to an SEC Conference Championship victory and the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
Justin Fields was one of the top quarterbacks this season. He tossed for 2,953 yards and 40 touchdowns. Ohio State trusted his decision making. He had an impressively low 1 interception. When teams pressured him, Fields ran for yards. He ended with 471 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Ohio State went 13-0 and is the #2 team in the College Football Playoff. They will take on #3 Clemson. If not for Fields ability to throw the football, they might not be 13-0 nor would they be in the College Football Playoff. He may not win the Heisman because of his passing yards. They are lower than Hurts and Joe Burrow. Fields should end up 2nd in the voting because of his touchdown to interception rate.
The only defensive player who is in the running for the trophy is Chase Young. Young stops the running plays by the opponents for Ohio State. Some of them were tackles for losses and others he punched the ball out for fumbles, forcing 6 of them. Young had his chance to wrap up the quarterback for a sack, he did so with a total of 16.5 this season. Young probably won’t win it but he still had an outstanding year and helped Ohio State earn a College Football Playoff birth.
The NCAA was right about who the finalists are for the Heisman Trophy. These were the top athletes to play Division 1 football. It is going to be a tough choice but the winner for me is Burrow. He played well all season. His stats say it all. Tune in tommorow at 6 P.M. Mountain Time on ESPN to find out who the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner will be.
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