Heisman Trophy watch 2022: Top 5 candidates after Week 1

The first week of the college football season has produced some new 2022 Heisman Trophy contenders in Stetson Bennet and Anthony Richardson. Here’s our top five. 

Now that every single college football team has played a game, we at least have some idea about how things will play out in the 2022 season.

On the first weekend, there weren’t any huge surprises. Florida did beat Utah but if that was a huge surprise then you should have read this article last week, where I predicted it.

Anthony Richardson came through in the clutch for the Gators and that’s given him some buzz. Stetson Bennett also created some Heisman Trophy buzz with a spectacular performance against Oregon.

And while the first week is generally filled with cupcakes, Alabama played the defending Mountain West champ, while Ohio State went toe-to-toe with Notre Dame.

At any rate, he’s the first look at our 2022 Heisman Trophy watch as we rank the top five contenders after Week 1 of the college football season.

2022 Heisman Trophy contender No. 5: Anthony Richardson, Florida QB

I’ve been saying that if Florida can get the most out of Anthony Richardson, the Gators could have something, and the 6-foot-4 quarterback delivered against the Pac-12 champs.

Richardson completed 17-of-24 passes for 168 yards (no interceptions) and then tormented Utah on the ground to the tune of 11 carries for 106 yards and three scores, including the game-winner.

The Gators are now ranked and hosting Kentucky this week. Richardson has been talked about as a possible first-round pick in the NFL all offseason and he looked like it Saturday.

We’ll see if he can do the same against Kentucky. If so, his Heisman Trophy candidacy will continue to rise.