College Football

Heisman finalists breakdown: Four worthy candidates, with a fifth missing

Updated Dec. 4, 2023 8:31 p.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

The Heisman Trophy finalists were revealed on Monday, and what an incredibly strong field we have.

The fearsome foursome includes the best receiver in the country in Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., a dual-threat quarterback who put up video game numbers in LSU's Jayden Daniels, and two Pac-12 signal-callers — Oregon's Bo Nix and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. — who were consistently excellent all season long.

I would have added one more if I had my way: Alabama QB Jalen Milroe.

Bama's surge to the SEC title and a College Football Playoff berth — ending Georgia's 29-game winning streak in the process — coincided with the rise of Milroe.

It's about winning and winning at the highest level, and there was no bigger win this season than the one Milroe engineered over the Bulldogs. Not to mention a certain fourth-and-31 he pulled off to beat Auburn.

This leads me to a problem I have with the process. Heisman voting was opened last Monday, meaning some voters may have submitted their picks before Milroe's latest heroics, or before Penix engineered a second Washington win over Oregon.

That quibble aside, however, this is a talented quartet, each player worthy of the award.

Let's get into the finalists and examine the qualities that make each a good candidate to win the award.

RJ Young's Top 5 Heisman candidates

Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State

Key stats

— 67 receptions, 1,211 receiving yards, 15 total TDs.

Résumé

— First Ohio State receiver with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in school history.

— Eight 100-yard receiving games this season; and now has 15 in his career, the most in program history.

— One of only two players in a Power conference to record three or more games with 160-plus receiving yards (Xavier Legette, South Carolina).

Harrison is a worthy Heisman finalist and could certainly win it. If he does, he'll be the first wide receiver to do so since DeVonta Smith, who was the first wide receiver to do so since Desmond Howard.

Harrison was the best Ohio State Buckeye on a loaded roster. At times he was the offense for Ohio State. I know Ohio State lost to Michigan, but that wasn't because of Harrison. The dude had 119 yards receiving against what is the best scoring defense in the entire country.

Nobody is going to shackle Marvin Harrison Jr. He is one of the five best players in our sport. And to be a wide receiver — a dependent position, not an independent position — and to be able to say that is ridiculous. Especially knowing that he doesn't return kicks or punts. He simply lines up on the numbers and beats the dude — or two dudes or three dudes — in front of him for catches.

Side note: Harrison could also end up being a two-time unanimous All-American, which just doesn't happen.

Marvin Harrison Jr. registers 163 yards against Maryland

Bo Nix, QB, Oregon

Key stats

— 4,145 passing yards, 40 TDs, three INTs, six rushing TDs

Résumé

— 15 straight games with multiple touchdown passes.

— Two touchdown passes away from tying Marcus Mariota (42) for the UO single-season record.

— Second in Oregon single-season history with 4,145 passing yards.

— 336 completions this season, a Ducks' single-season record.

Nix had one of the most efficient seasons that I've ever seen from a quarterback, completing 77% of his passes. I don't care if you're running Ryan Day's dink-and-dunk with Dwayne Haskins, completing 77% of your passes is a ridiculous number against the kind of competition you're going to face in the Pac-12.

Now, it certainly hurts his chances that the Ducks lost that Pac-12 championship game to Washington. But it does not overshadow what he was able to do in his final year of college football.

Nix has played more college football games than any quarterback in the sport's history, so you can't say that he's inexperienced.

With quarterback play in the NFL so spotty and teams consistently struggling to figure out who will be good, I could see Nix actually walking his way into a first-round draft pick.

The second, third or fourth round might be more realistic, but I still think he's one of the four best players in our sport this year, and if he wins the Heisman Trophy this year, he'll be more than worthy.

Bo Nix throws for a career-high SIX TDs in rout of Arizona State

Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington

Key stats

— 4,218 pass yards, 33 TDs, nine INTs, three rushing TDs

Résumé

— Five passing TDs vs. Boise State, tied for third-most in UW single-game history.

— First Washington QB to pass for 4,000-plus yards in back-to-back seasons; Cody Pickett (4,458 in 2002) is the only other UW QB to top that mark.

— First Washington QB to throw 30-plus TDs in a season twice.

— Led country with 4,218 pass yards; only QB to be averaging more than 320 passing yards per game.

Penix has great numbers, but with the southpaw QB, it's really about what he's done over the past two seasons. In addition to the numbers listed above, he has led the Huskies to a 23-2 record over the last two campaigns.

Penix has been pivotal to Washington's success, and the Huskies played in what I think is the toughest conference in the sport this year. In addition to what Oregon and Utah proved capable of, Oregon State and Arizona turned out to be top-15 teams for me.

And don't forget non-conference foe Boise State. The Broncos won the Mountain West Conference championship on Saturday, beating a nine-win UNLV team. Washington beat that Boise State team 56-19, and then went on to stomp out the better teams in the Pac-12.

The Huskies are in the CFP because of what Penix has been, about what offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has been, and certainly about what Kalen DeBoer has been.

I think Penix has a great chance to win the Heisman Trophy based on what Washington has accomplished this year as the best team West of the Mississippi.

Michael Penix Jr. finds Rome Odunze for a 33-yard TD vs. Utah

Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU

Key stats

— 4,946 yards of total offense, 50 total TDs, four INTs; 3,812 pass yards, 1,134 rush yards, 40 pass TDs, 10 rush TDs

Résumé

— Only player in FBS history to rush for 200 yards and pass for 350 yards in a game, which he did it vs. Florida.

— Also set the SEC record for total offense in that game (606 total yards).

— Joined Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M in 2012) as the only players in SEC history to pass for 3,500 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

— One of only five players in SEC history to be responsible for 50 TDs in a season, joining Joe Burrow (63), Tim Tebow (55), Cam Newton (51) and Bryce Young (50) — all five won the Heisman in that season.

— Led all QBs nationally in: Pass TDs (40, tied with Nix), pass yards per attempt (11.66), rush yards (1,134), rush average (8.4), total offense (4,946) and total TDs responsible for (50).

Jayden Daniels speaks on LSU's success, Heisman race

Daniels has had a season unlike any in college football history. The man was responsible for 600 yards of offense all by himself against Florida. For perspective, Texas put up 662 as a team against Oklahoma State. Daniels was like "nah dawg, that's just Saturday for me."

The numbers Daniels put up are comparable to, and in some ways better than, the numbers former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow put up when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2019.

The problem with Daniels' résumé? Winning matters. LSU is 9-3 this season, while the other three finalists have lost three games combined.

Daniels' path to maturing as a player is similar to what we saw with Burrow, the difference is that Burrow ran the table and won a national title in his final season.

I think Daniels would be a worthy winner of this award, though. The stats are there, and he's given us the "wow" moments that are needed.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.