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Big 12 Football: Top 4 Heisman Trophy favorites for 2021 season

By Phil Poling

AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 07: Running back Breece Hall #28 of the Iowa State Cyclones rushes for yards as safety Christian Morgan #4 of the Baylor Bears defends in the first half of the play at Jack Trice Stadium on November 07, 2020 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 38-31 over the Baylor Bears. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 07: Running back Breece Hall #28 of the Iowa State Cyclones rushes for yards as safety Christian Morgan #4 of the Baylor Bears defends in the first half of the play at Jack Trice Stadium on November 07, 2020 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 38-31 over the Baylor Bears. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images) /
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It’s no surprise that Sooner signal-caller Spencer Rattler is the early favorite for the 2021 Heisman Trophy, especially after his stretch run a season ago.

But in addition to his own talent, Rattler will be in charge of running plays called by Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley — one of college football’s most creative minds. He’s already coached three Heisman finalists in four seasons, including winners Baker Mayfield (2017) and Kyler Murray (2018).

Before fully diving into Rattler and the rest of the Big 12 Heisman contenders, let’s look at our recent list of dark-horse candidates from the conference.

  • Leddie Brown, WVU Mountaineers
  • Max Duggan, TCU Horned Frogs
  • Marvin Mims, Oklahoma Sooners
  • Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State Cowboys
  • Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State Wildcats

West Virginia’s Leddie Brown will lead the rushing attack for Neal Brown and the Mountaineers. The third-year head coach plans to involve his senior running back even more than last year when he tallied 230 touches.

TCU’s Max Duggan gears up for his third season under center for the Horned Frogs. I wouldn’t call him a touchdown machine, but he scored 10 apiece through the air and on the ground last year. If he’s able to up his passing production without too many turnovers, it could be an interesting season.

Oklahoma’s Marvin Mims has possibly the heaviest weight on his shoulders that a non-quarterback could have heading into the 2021 season. The first reason, an obvious one, is his quarterback being the Heisman favorite. Secondly, the Sooners’ have a deep history of talented wide receivers.

Oklahoma State’s seen both the good and bad from quarterback Spencer Sanders, but the deck’s been cleared in Stillwater following the 2020 season; this is Sanders’ team now. How far will he take the Cowboys?

When it comes to electrifying players, Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn is surely in the mix. Keep an eye on the soon-to-be-sophomore as the Wildcats progress through the upcoming season.

After reading those names, can you picture any of them winning the Heisman? If not, that’s OK, we did project them as dark horse candidates. Who’s ready for the legit contenders, though, the favorites? We’ll start with a guy who finished sixth in Heisman voting last season.

*All betting odds courtesy of WynnBET.com

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