NCAA Football Pac 12 Football

Too-Early Pac-12 Heisman Candidates For 2015

Fresh Videos

By @Alex_Drude

Too Early Pac 12 Heisman candidates for 2015

Heisman 2015
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Spring practice has yet to begin, but there is no offseason for Heisman candidates to start campaigning for college football’s most prestigious awards. Of course, players will surprise us once the season starts, but here are the Pac 12’s best chances to take home the hardware right now.

8. Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford

Heisman 2015
Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

8. Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford

Heisman 2015
Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

If a three-year starter at QB on some really good teams can be a dark-horse Heisman candidate in his senior year, then Kevin Hogan is that player. Hogan clearly took a step backwards in 2014, but so did Stanford as a whole. If the Cardinal jump back up into the upper echelon, Hogan will get some buzz.

7. D.J. Foster, RB/WR, ASU

Heisman 2015
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

7. D.J. Foster, RB/WR, ASU

Heisman 2015
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Foster broke a thousand yards rushing for the first time as ASU’s featured back last fall, but will become a hybrid RB/WR slot guy in 2015. Realizing he won’t be the Sun Devils' No. 1 option in the backfield next fall, Foster decided to become more versatile as a senior instead of declaring for the draft. It's a smart move that will only help his draft position, possible Heisman campaign and ASU.

6. Devontae Booker, RB, Utah

Heisman 2015
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

6. Devontae Booker, RB, Utah

Heisman 2015
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Another thousand yard rusher coming back for his senior year, Booker finished seven yards away from Utah’s single-season rushing record with 1,512, as the Utes challenged for the Pac 12 South title into early November. He would likely have been pretty high on the RB Big Board had he declared, but coming back gives him an opportunity for a trip to NYC as well.

5. Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon

Heisman 2015
Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

5. Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon

Heisman 2015
Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

The Ducks lost a lot of weapons that helped Freeman have the best true freshman rushing season in Oregon history. Not just Marcus Mariota, but most of the O-line needs to be replaced. But if any Duck is going to get early Heisman buzz, it’ll be Freeman, who had 1,365 yards and a league-high 18 TDs.

4. Paul Perkins, RB, UCLA

Heisman 2015
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

4. Paul Perkins, RB, UCLA

Heisman 2015
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Unless you’re a UCLA fan, you probably had no idea that Perkins led the conference in rushing. I certainly didn’t. The junior-to-be had 1,575 yards, plenty more than Booker and the second-highest single-season total in Bruins history. Yet, he got no Heisman love. If he does it again, expect that to change.

3. Jared Goff, QB, Cal

Heisman 2015
Carey Edmondson- USA TODAY

3. Jared Goff, QB, Cal

Heisman 2015
Carey Edmondson- USA TODAY

Goff has had incredible passing numbers in his two years in Berkeley, but the Bears haven’t had a winning season to make him look good in the eyes of Heisman voters. He had close to 4,000 yards passing in 2014 (500 more than 2013) and 35 TDs, nearly double his 2013 numbers. Improve on those numbers yet again, get Cal to a decent bowl and he gets Heisman buzz.

2. Nick Wilson, RB, Arizona

Heisman 2015
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

2. Nick Wilson, RB, Arizona

Heisman 2015
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Fourth in the conference in rushing and second in touchdowns last season, Wilson gets the nod over QB Anu Solomon as Arizona’s Heisman guy. He broke 100 yards rushing seven times, 150 four times, 170 three times and had a career-high 218 at Utah, a team pretty good at stopping the run. That was all done when he was a true freshman. Wilson should be in the mix for the prestigious award.

1. Cody Kessler, QB, USC

Heisman 2015
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

1. Cody Kessler, QB, USC

Heisman 2015
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Normally, his 2014 season of 39 TDs and five INTS with a rating of 167.1 would have garnered plenty of attention and postseason awards, but he was the second-best QB in the conference. The other guy killed those numbers and actually won the Heisman. A good senior QB at USC seems to automatically be on the ballot, and despite his leading wideout and running back going to the draft, Kessler’s the conference’s top chance for the Heisman right now.

Alex Drude is a Pac-12 writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Alex_Drude. “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google+.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on