College Football

Top 5 Heisman Trophy contenders: Caleb Williams faces a stacked field

Updated Aug. 16, 2023 3:54 p.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

As we prepare for the 2023 season, here are the five players I'm watching who are most likely to end up raising the stiff-arm trophy in New York come December.

1. USC QB Caleb Williams

Heisman voters are historically prejudiced about awarding that trophy to the same man twice. It's only happened once, and that was 48 years ago when Archie Griffin went back-to-back in 1974 and 1975.

If Williams becomes the first player since Griffin to go back-to-back, he'll go down as one of the greatest college football players of all time.

But Heisman voters haven't been keen on the idea. Williams would have to win a Pac-12 title and earn USC its first CFP bid in school history to have a chance.

Lincoln Riley would also tie Nick Saban and Frank Leahy as the coaches who have produced the most Heisman winners (four).

If Williams pulls it off, #CavingForCaleb would reach a new level.

Top 5 Heisman candidates: Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr. and more!

2. Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Harrison Jr. Is capable of doing for Ohio State what DeVonta Smith did for Alabama in 2020.

And he might have to.

Like Smith in 2020, he'll be working with a new starter at QB. If that QB ends up being Kyle McCord, it will be the quarterback he's been catching passes from since high school.

Harrison, Jr. emerged at a moment when folks were looking to former Ohio State wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba to lead the receiving corps last year. In 2022, he caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 TDs.

This year everybody knows Harrison, Jr. is WR1 in Columbus. But all he has to do is to continue to act like it. It won't hurt his chances for Ohio State to beat a good Michigan program in Ann Arbor this year, either.

Interviews with Ohio State's Ryan Day and Marvin Harrison Jr.

3. Michigan RB Blake Corum

He's the best tailback in the sport, and he's playing at the program that has won the last two Joe Moore Awards. He also plays at the program where running the football is as much its identity as the maize and blue that colors its uniforms.

Had he elected to enter the NFL Draft, he might've been a first-round pick. And while running back Donovan Edwards is a dynamo, Michigan coach Harbaugh has shown he likes to have a feature back.

In 2021, starter Hassan Haskins rushed 270 times for 1,327 yards (4.9) with 20 TDs. Corum had 144 rushes for 952 (6.6).

In 2022, Corum rushed 247 times for 1,463 (5.9) with 18 TDs. Edwards had 140 for 991 yards (7.1).

If Corum has the kind of season this year that he did last year, I expect to see him in New York in December.

Interviews with Michigan's Blake Corum and Jim Harbaugh

4. North Carolina QB Drake Maye

Maye was remarkable last year.

In fact, after posting 4,321 passing yards with 38 TDs and seven INTs, plus another 698 yards and seven TDs on the ground, he became just the sixth player since 2010 to compile at least 4,000 passing yards, 35 touchdown passes, 650 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs in a season.

The others to do it? Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson, Marcus Mariota, Johnny Manziel and RG3.

That's four Heisman winners and Deshaun Watson.

The only question is can he do that without offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who is now at Wisconsin?

Interviews with Texas' Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers

5. Texas QB Quinn Ewers

Heading into Year 2 with the Longhorns and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, Ewers is now not just talented enough, but experienced enough, to lead Texas to heights it hasn't seen in nearly 15 years.

He's said that learning under Sarkisian is like getting a PhD in quarterback play. That bodes well for an underclassman that had Nick Saban's Crimson Tide on the ropes last September before being forced out by an injury.

He never seemed to fully be himself after that outstanding outing, but he wasn't terrible either. He passed for 2,177 with 15 TDs and six INTs in 10 games.

This year, he's also got the best set of playmakers a UT QB has had since making the 2009 national title game. Expect Xavier Worthy, AD Mitchell, Ja'Tavion Sanders as well as talented underclassmen CJ Baxter and Johntay Cook, to feature in Sark's attack. All of this, combined with Ewers' ability to drop the ball into a shoebox from 40 yards out, should make it all go.

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.