Notre Dame was chilling out maxing relaxing all cool this weekend with a bye and half of their regular season completed. We have lots of football remaining across the country but the Heisman picture has come far more into focus since August. Let’s walk through the pageantry, tradition, and respect for the world’s most prestigious stiff arm trophy.

Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State

Your eye roll Heisman front runner as evidenced by a bar that can get incredibly low like his last game on the field with 15 carries for 22 yards, plus a 53-yard touchdown run that fed another week of “highlights.” He’s also taking the Christian McCaffrey route to NYC via good but not great rushing totals but plenty of kickoff and receptions yards. Until Penn State loses he’s a lock for a Heisman invite.

Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma

Few people could survive a blip such as a home loss to Iowa State but with another 300-yard performance in a comeback win over Texas we have Mayfield squarely back in the race. He’s also as likely as anyone to pick up a lot of career votes with 122 touchdowns to his name.

Bryce Love, RB, Stanford

Absolutely dominating the rushing leaderboard so far this year with almost 30 more yards per game than the next closest player. Stanford have lost twice but have won 4 straight and will have a few opportunities to make statements including the finale against Notre Dame.

Luke Falk, QB, Washington State

Your poster child for a deflating Heisman campaign. Falk had some darkhorse potential building in recent weeks and blew it to pieces with 5 interceptions and no touchdowns in a blowout loss at California.

Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville

The reigning trophy holder is on pace for 4,600+ total yards during the regular season (just slightly off his pace last year) and may not get an invite thanks to zero help from his teammates. Louisville was just upset by Boston College (surrendering 45 points!) and the Cards already have 3 losses.

Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State

Here’s someone who could’ve built a nice resume as long as the Aztecs kept winning. Double whammy this weekend for Penny who struggles with 53 yards on 21 carries and his team loses a crucial conference game to Boise State.

Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State

The loss to TCU set Rudolph’s chances back, yet better to lose early and forget about it? He’ll certainly finish the season with gaudy stats and put up 459 passing yards on just 19 completions this past weekend. The Bedlam game coming up in a few weeks looms large for a pair of Big 12 quarterbacks.

Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB, Alabama

The most high-profile player on the country’s best defense is getting his name thrown in there lately. We know he’s a super long shot without touching the ball on offense or special teams. For what it’s worth, he scored two pick-sixes last year and wasn’t in the conversation. His stats this year aren’t any better.

Ed Oliver, DT, Houston

Once upon a time the sophomore would’ve had the best odds for a defender. His numbers are still quite good (36 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 6 QBH, 2 FF) but down from last year. The Cougars were also just blown out by a Tulsa team that was really, really struggling this year.

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin

The latest in the long assembly line of Badger running backs has shot up the rushing leaderboard in recent weeks. And he’s just a true freshman! He went over 200 yards this weekend against Purdue and sits at 986 yards through 6 games so far.

Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA

Some of the numbers are there for Rosen like the 4th most pass attempts and averaging the 2nd most passing yards per game in the country. His offense is also scoring almost 40 per game with an increase of 15 points/game from last year. If I told you these numbers before the season you’d think Rosen was right in the Heisman mix. Too bad UCLA is giving up 40.5 points per game and lost 3 times already.

Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame

Our guy is still in this race thanks to the 7th best yards per game in the country. He’s also 3rd nationally among running backs in yards per carry (9.02) for anyone who has carried the ball at least 50 times. Adams will need more opportunities and some signature moments. He’s the only non-injured back in the Top 21 rushing average/game to not have 100 carries yet and his 5 touchdowns need to increase quickly.

J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ohio State

The true freshman had a huge debut game and then kind of slid back into the shadows. He was okay in the Buckeyes loss to Oklahoma and has been good enough to be sitting within striking distance of the Heisman conversation going into OSU’s meaty part of their schedule.

Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia

Chubb is sharing the spotlight in the backfield which usually isn’t great unless you’re an Alabama running back. Still, he’s the most high profile offensive player on one of the nation’s best teams right now. His numbers are quite good (688 yards, 6.43 YPC, 8 TD) and it’s going to be a matter of Georgia staying in the playoff hunt.

Sam Darnold, QB, USC

The pre-season favorite is still in the mix with the Trojans escaping Utah this weekend to move to 6-1 on the year. Due to the laziness of the media, Darnold is still likely squarely in the mix for an invite even though he’s thrown 9 picks (lost 3 fumbles this weekend, too) and had too many mediocre stretches through 7 games. With a win this weekend the Irish could all but kill his Heisman chances–the Trojans don’t have the finishing schedule for Darnold to recover.

McKenzie Milton, QB, UCF

The best quarterback in the country you’ve never heard of is a true sophomore former low 3-star Hawaiian standing 5’11” and 185 pounds. He’s currently leading the country’s top scoring offense (only team to be averaging 50 per game) and is tied for 2nd nationally with a gaudy 11.6 yards per attempt. If the Knights keep winning can he earn an invite?

J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State

We know one bad game doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from contention. Barrett had that versus Oklahoma but in every other game he’s been white hot fire. He has the 4th best passer rating in the country and can be one of the best running quarterbacks in the game. The Buckeyes have 3 games (Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan) for Barrett to move into contention.

Jake Browning QB, Washington

The Huskies as a team didn’t have much room for error in their first half easy scheduling and that all came crashing down this weekend at Arizona State. Same too for Browning’s Heisman hopes after he mustered 139 yards on 30 attempts with no touchdowns.

Jalen Hurts, QB, Alabama

The Tide running back by committee should help Hurts who is lingering as the quarterback of the best team in the country. He’s on pace for ~1,000 rushing yards but he’s not throwing the ball as much as last year although he’s only tossed one pick all season. He’s in a safe place now and just needs some big highlight plays down the stretch to really get in to the mix.

James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State

Someone only catching 34 passes in 6 games might not be on this list unless they’re averaging an absurd 25.9 yards per catch. Among players who have at least 30 catches that’s 5 yards better than the second place player, oddly enough former Notre Dame wideout Jalen Guyton now at North Texas.

Kenny Hill, QB, TCU

Hill was briefly a Heisman hopeful at Texas A&M and is now back in the thick of it with an undefeated TCU squad. He’s actually playing pretty damn well with almost 70% of his passes completed with 10 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. He’s not getting much attention across the nation but if the Frogs keep winning does that change?

Kelly Bryant, QB, Clemson

Coming off a huge upset loss at Syracuse in which Bryant missed a majority of the action probably helps his cause in the long run. Still, despite the proclamations that there’s been no drop-off from Deshaun Watson that’s patently false. Bryant has been a good runner (393 yards, 7 TD) but has been pretty average as a passer (1,375 yards). You can’t combine for 11 total touchdowns right now and be a Heisman finalist.

Eric’s Predicted Voting

1 Mayfield

2 Hurts

3 Love

4 Barkley

5 Barrett