Heisman Trophy watch 2021: Top 5 contenders heading into Week 9
The 2021 Heisman Trophy race saw some key developments during Week 8 and here are the top five contenders heading into Week 9 of the college football season.
The college football season is now in the final week of October and that’s pretty crazy when you think about it.
Soon, we’ll be digesting College Football Playoff rankings as the calendar turns to November and we hit the stretch run of the 2021 college football season.
We all know that means that the playoff race heats up, as well as battles for conference championships and bowl berths across the college football world.
It also means that the Heisman Trophy race gets real and while this season’s Heisman Trophy campaign has been a little lackluster, this past weekend was important especially for guys like Kenny Pickett, Caleb Williams, and C.J. Stroud.
All three of those quarterbacks helped their cause on Saturday, while Desmond Ridder, who has consistently made our top five in recent weeks, has been dropped.
His Cincinatti Bearcats beat Navy but struggled in the process and he threw for just 176 yards, to go along with two touchdowns and one interception. Winning isn’t enough to win the Heisman and his replacement? Well, he’s been on fire.
And now, here are our top five Heisman Trophy contenders after Week 8.
Heisman Trophy Candidate No. 5: Kenny Pickett, QB, Pitt
It’s time for people to pay attention to Kenny Pickett and the Panthers. They beat Clemson on Saturday to improve to 6-1, while Pickett threw for 302 yards and two scores.
On the season, Pickett has been simply spectacular. He’s thrown for at least 272 yards in every game this season and has just one interception compared to 23 touchdowns. In the lone loss to Western Michigan, he actually threw six touchdown passes.
In the four games since, all wins, Pickett has averaged 324 passing yards per game, as well as 13 touchdown passes (15 total, two rushing) and ZERO interceptions.
Pickett is also ninth in passing yards, fourth in touchdown passes, and ranks third in QBR, nationally. He might be the ACC Player of the Year and who knows, he could even play his way to New York.