The Heisman trophy is the most coveted award in all of college football, perhaps in all college sports. It certainly has the most prestige to it, the most familiarity. In this ten part mini-series, I am going to introduce you to the top ten Heisman hopefuls in America so that you can get familiar with them just in time for Spring football.
QB Trace McSorley, Penn State
Trace McSorley enters his senior season as one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football. Entering his third year as a starter, he has been overshadowed his entire collegiate career by the likes of teammate Saquan Barkley.
McSorley has had a very solid two seasons as the starting quarterback since replacing Christian Hackenburg. He’s thrown for over 7000 yards and 57 touchdowns, rushing for another 18. We saw massive improvement in his accuracy as a passer from sophomore to junior seasons, his completion percentage rising over 9% to 66.5%.
What skills give McSorley a chance at winning the Heisman?
Dual Threat abilities
It’s hard to be a quarterback and win a Heisman trophy without dual threat abilities this day in time. McSorley definitely has those abilities. Penn State head coach James Franklin often runs a pistol option play to utilize McSorley’s running ability. He’s electric in the open field, very elusive and hard to bring down when he’s fighting for a first down.
Then when he throws. Sometimes, it’s so hard to contain him because he makes good, quick decisions. He has good arm strength but its the ball placement that is the killer. His accuracy tremendously improved between 2016 and 2017.
Part of a team primed to make a Championship run
The next point McSorley has an advantage over most of the Heisman Hopefuls (excepting Alabama players and Jake Fromm) is that Penn State is ready to make a championship run next year, and he would be leading it. This is very important when voters cast their choices for the Heisman. Nine of the last ten Heisman winners competed in the Championship/Playoff.
Winning is a very important aspect to the Heisman trophy. What good is your incredible performance if your team looses four or five games? McSorley and Penn State smell blood in the water. They’re chasing after a Championship and he will be the guy that they lean on.
McSorley is a very talented player for the college ranks. He’s a good face for college football. Now whether his talents will translate over to the NFL, we have this season to really assess that. But for now, sit back and enjoy the greatness that is about to unfold this college football season.
Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
