Five Early Heisman Trophy Candidates for 2017

Next year’s Heisman Trophy Ceremony could be the Year of the Quarterback. Here are five early Heisman candidates for 2017.

Well Lamar Jackson is the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner. Jackson finished first in the voting with 2,144 votes. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson came in second with 1,524 votes. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield came in third with 361 votes.

Jackson and Watson are the seventh tandem from the same conference and the first from the ACC to finish one-two in Heisman voting. Some might say Jackson won in a landslide but he finished with the sixth highest percentage of possible votes. Only Cam Newton, Charlie Ward, Ricky Williams, Marcus Mariota and Troy Smith have finished with higher percentage points.

At 19 years old, Jackson is the youngest player to win the Heisman. He’s the third player in FBS history with 30 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in a season.

2017 has a lot of potential as a Year of the Quarterback with the next year’s Heisman race. With the likes of Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley and Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois returning, there’s certainly a lot of hype going into next season for a quarterback-heavy final five.

Here’s a look at some early candidates for the 2017 Heisman Trophy.