Heisman Trophy Watch 2017: Big upsets shift order in Week 6

A quarterback falls after an upset, while running backs take center stage. Here are the top five in the Heisman race after Week 6.

The first weekend of October marked the halfway point of the regular season for many FBS teams. Now that September is in the rearview mirror, the Heisman Trophy race is beginning to emerge in greater focus. Pretenders have fallen by the wayside, while contenders have shifted up and down ballots as their teams enter conference play.

In recent seasons, the award has evolved into a celebration of quarterbacks. When a passer isn’t taking home the venerated bronze stiffarm, it has been a running back that runs away with the trophy. The two main backfield positions have seemingly become the only ones capable of winning the award.

This is hardly unique to the modern era, though. Receivers have rarely earned much love from Heisman voters. Linemen on both sides of the ball don’t put up the kind of numbers that gain recognition. And the only way for defensive backs to gain consideration is through ironman play and special-teams exploits.

So you won’t see any major surprises this week as we sit down to evaluate the Heisman field once again. Here are the five front-runners for the award after Week 6 play.