Hunter will win, but who should be Heisman finalists?

By Chris Marler

The Heisman Trophy finalists will be revealed Monday with the winner being announced on Saturday in New York. The winner has been all but sealed for weeks even if the ballots with the actual votes haven’t. 

Travis Hunter will almost certainly be the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. Las Vegas has told us that for weeks now. There are hardly any sportsbooks that are even taking bets on the award at this point. Some even stopped before the final week of the regular season.

The current odds at DraftKings have Hunter as a minus-2500 favorite, and there are only three other players listed with odds, Ashton Jeanty, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders

Hunter, Jeanty, and Gabriel all deserve to be invited. Remember, there’s no standard number of invites for the award. However, we usually see no more than five and have seen three seven times since 2007.

Where’s the fun in that? Here are the other most deserving candidates that should get an invite in order from most deserving to least.

Bryson Daily — QB, Army

Daily ended his Senior season with 37 touchdowns and only one interception while leading Army to an 11-1 record. He did all that while missing a game with one still to go against Navy. He also had over 100 yards rushing in ten of 11 games played and two or more touchdowns in ten of his 11 games as well.

Cam Ward — QB, Miami 

Ward was electric all year. He led the country in QBR while racking up 40 total touchdowns and 4,319 yards on the No. 1 offense in the country in scoring and yards per game. Ward had over 300 yards passing in ten of Miami’s 12 games and had at least two touchdowns in 11 games as well.

Shedeur Sanders — QB, Colorado 

Shedeur Sanders came into the season as one of the most polarizing and hated players in the country. He finished the season as one of the best players and a bonafide first round pick in next year’s draft. Sanders was top three in the country in passing yards (3,926) and touchdowns (35) and led the entire country in completion percentage at 74.2 percent. He did all that behind an offensive line that allowed 95 sacks over the last two seasons.

QB Cade Klubnik, Clemson 

Klubnik and Clemson were one of the most underwhelming offenses and quarterbacks in the country in 2023. He finished that season with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The horrible first year as a starter in 2023 is the only reason I can think as to why he was so overlooked in 2024.

Klubnik quietly put up one of the most impressive seasons in the country in 2024. He finished with over 3,700 yards of offense, 40 touchdowns, just five interceptions, and a spot in the College Football Playoff after winning the ACC Championship. Klubnik also finished third in the country in passing touchdowns with 33.

Cam Skattebo — RB, Arizona State 

Skattebo may get an invite to New York, and it would be one of the most deserving players while also being the perfect example of what’s wrong with current voters for the award. Skattebo has been great all year, rushing for 1,568 yards and 19 touchdowns and finishing second in America in yards from scrimmage with over 2,000.

Those are Heisman finalist caliber numbers. Those are honestly Heisman winning numbers for a running back in some years. That’s not my issue. The issue is that Skattebo’s invite would’ve been based off his last game in the Big 12 Championship and not his entire season. The prisoner of the moment, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mindset of Heisman voters has been a constant thing over the last decade of the award. Getting a game on the final weekend in a time slot with no other games to watch put him on full display for the entire country.

That part is great, and he deserves the praise and attention. My issue is that he has deserved it all season and it’s frustrating that it’s just being talked about now.

To be clear my gripe is with the voters, not the player.

Jaxson Dart — QB, Ole Miss 

Dart led the country in total yards this season with 4,327 and yards per game with 360.6. He was fantastic all year and finished his final season in Oxford with the second best passer rating in America and the No. 4 ranked QBR on the best offense in the SEC.

His 28 touchdowns and six interceptions however are a bit pedestrian in comparison to the other potential candidates. Dart is probably the most deserving candidate from the SEC, but that doesn’t mean he should get an invite over anyone else on this list.

After the Georgia game I thought he would be a lock for New York. However, he finished with one touchdown or less in six of his final eight games and his two interceptions against Florida ultimately cost the Rebels a shot at the Playoff.

Jeremiah Smith — WR, Ohio State 

Smith finished the season with 11 touchdowns and less than 1000 total yards of offense, and I still think he would be deserving.

The numbers for Smith in his true freshman season are not Heisman finalist level numbers at all, but the award is supposed to be given to the best player in the country. Even as a true freshman Smith is clearly one of the best players in all of college football already.