Khalil Tate was one of the most electric players during the second half of the 2017 season. Here’s why the Arizona football star will win the Heisman in 2018.
At the beginning of the 2017 season, Khalil Tate wasn’t even the top player on the Arizona two-deep at quarterback. Injuries opened the door for Tate to get on the field in October as the new starter. The Wildcat proved to be a wild card on the gridiron. He exploded as a late-season Heisman hopeful in Tucson.
Ultimately, Baker Mayfield proved himself the runaway winner of the 2017 Heisman Trophy. Tate failed to get into the top 10 of Heisman voting. As teams focused more attention on Tate, Arizona lost three of its last four regular-season games and fell backward into the postseason.
Heisman winners aren’t always on perfect teams or even on conference contenders. In recent years, players like Tim Tebow and Lamar Jackson have been Heisman winners without winning even a division title. Tate will need only to help the Wildcats improve on their 7-6 record in Rich Rodriguez’s last year and help ease in the Kevin Sumlin era.
Sumlin knows how a superb talent can become a household name without a title. His former Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel earned a Heisman Trophy on the strength of solid numbers throughout the year peppered with a few showcase performances. Could Tate become Sumlin’s next Manziel? Here are five reasons why Tate is going to emerge as the 2018 Heisman winner.