Heisman Watch: Week 10

The Heisman Trophy is typically a quarterback award. In its history, only four wide receivers have won the award.

Despite the quarterback play being very good, there still may be a dark-horse non-quarterback who can continue to work his way up and may end up winning the award.

However, the quarterbacks will always get the advantage.

Front-runner: Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington

Penix Jr. continued to show his talents on the big stage with an impressive performance against Stanford.

Penix Jr. put up 369 yards and four touchdowns while willing his team to a late victory over the Cardinal.

He is still the odds-on favorite despite the hype of a couple of others behind him growing.

The quarterback has accumulated 2,945 yards with 24 touchdowns on the season in a very offensive-heavy Pac-12.

Runner-up: J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan

McCarthy in some eyes is the favorite for the Heisman. He hasn’t had a down game similar to that of Penix against Arizona State.

The Wolverine quarterback has 1,799 yards on the season with 18 touchdowns in a much more run-heavy offense. McCarthy has been much more efficient and has shown he can make every pass in the book.

The big thing that will hurt McCarthy isn’t even directly related to him. Michigan’s spying scandal may cause McCarthy to drop in some eyes. McCarthy’s chances could be hurt by the theory of guilt by association, which could make him fall in the voting.

On the rise: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU

Jayden Daniels has the biggest opportunity to improve his Heisman Trophy odds this weekend. No. 14 LSU takes on No. 8 Alabama. Another big game from Daniels and the quarterback from LSU could take over as the front-runner.

In his fifth season, Daniels is on pace to set career highs in yards and touchdown passes. This season he has built off of an impressive end of the season in 2022.

Daniels leads all SEC quarterbacks with 2,573 yards and 25 touchdown passes.

The only issue with Daniels is the aspect of LSU being lower ranked than the rest of his competitors’ teams. The last Heisman winner to not have his team ranked in the top 10 was Lamar Jackson in 2016. Daniels can improve on that with a big win over Alabama in his next game.

Sleeper: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State

The son of NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Marvin Harrison Jr. has lived up to the hype of the son of the former superstar receiver.

Each week, Harrison is becoming more and more of the focus on offense for Ohio State. Kyle McCord has relied on him as much as possible and Harrison always delivers. He has been essentially unstoppable.

Compared to the quarterbacks, Harrison Jr. had his down game early in the season against Notre Dame. In his last game, the receiver caught six passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

On the season, he has 49 catches for 889 yards and 8 touchdowns.

If the quarterbacks slip up just a bit, don’t be surprised if Marvin Harrison Jr. is hoisting the trophy on the second weekend of December.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5756@psu.edu