Heisman Trophy Power Rankings, Week 12: Joe Burrow has his moment

Joe Burrow saved his best performance against his toughest challenge of the season. Can anyone catch up to him in the Heisman Trophy power rankings?

This Heisman race has been incredibly interesting. We’ve had plenty of players fight for the award, and so many have put their best efforts out there. It’s felt like every top team has at least one candidate in the race. We knew we would be in for an interesting November, but no one saw this coming at the start of the season. Joe Burrow has taken the entire country by storm, and he does not look like he wants to give up the role as frontrunner for the trophy.

Before we talk about how last week’s games impacted the Heisman race, let’s talk about some players who have had good seasons that have no chance to win the Heisman.

This conversation has to start with Chase Young. Young was No. 2 in my last rankings, and I thought he could actually be the second primarily defensive player ever to win the Heisman. He’s still the best player in college football by my count, but a suspension has destroyed his candidacy. There have been reports swirling that the suspension will be anywhere from two to four games, but I think either would be too much for him to overcome at this point in the season. He already had an uphill climb being a defensive lineman.

Ohio State has a couple of other candidates who have too much ground to gain to be considered contenders anymore. J.K. Dobbins is one of the best running backs in college football, but there are too many good quarterbacks for a running back to be anything less than stellar. Justin Fields has had a great season, but he’s been the third best quarterback at best. This late in the season, I can’t think of what he could do to win the trophy.

There are a few other players worth mentioning like Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Taylor, but they have been too inconsistent to even make it to New York. This is a three-person race at best. Let’s start with No. 3.