Ohio State Football: Justin Fields should now be 2020 Heisman favorite

The Big Ten decided to reverse course and reinstate a fall 2020 season and that should mean Ohio State football’s Justin Fields is the Heisman favorite.

One week into Power Five play and the Big Ten decided it was time to reverse a decision that was made a month earlier and move ahead with a fall season.

This came as a surprise to many who wrote the 2020 Big Ten season off, but guys like Justin Fields and Ryan Day weren’t ready to quit fighting. Both have been vocal in regards to the return of Big Ten football this fall and they got their wish on Wednesday.

According to a report from Pete Thamel, the conference is returning and football will begin on Oct. 24 with an eight-game schedule followed by a ninth cross-divisional game.

This has been the most solid of all the sources during this entire ‘play or no play’ saga and the conference made the right decision, based off the health experts’ opinions and rapid COVID-19 testing options.

So now that Fields can return to the field next month, where does he stand in the Heisman Trophy race with guys like Trevor Lawrence, Sam Ehlinger, Spencer Rattler or even Travis Etienne who have gotten a head start? In my opinion, he should top that list.

While everyone is expecting Lawrence to run away with the award as the clear favorite and after posting 351 yards through the air and three total touchdowns against Wake Forest, Fields might end up having the more successful season because of his ability to run. Sure, Lawrence had two rushing touchdowns in Week 2, but starting off with -24 rushing yards will set him back.

Fields had just under 500 rushing yards last season with 10 touchdowns on the ground to go along with 3,273 passing yards and 41 touchdowns. He also only three three interceptions and completed 67 percent of his passes. All of his numbers were comparable to Lawrence and he might have even better weapons coming back.

Lawrence saw Justyn Ross go down with a season-ending injury and Tee Higgins graduated while Fields returns guys like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Julian Fleming. He will also have to carry a large load with JK Dobbins gone from his backfield while Lawrence will have to split his Heisman campaign with Travis Etienne.

Don’t just hand the Heisman to Lawrence just yet, folks. There may just be a new favorite in town now that the Big Ten is coming back on Oct. 24.