Heisman straw ballot: Cam Ward plummets so … are the quarterbacks truly out of it?

The Athletic’s Heisman straw ballot is greedy at, um, concepts. Throwing stuff on the wall. Darts, even.

Jaxson Dart, welcome. The Ole Miss quarterback makes his debut this week with a second-place vote after throwing for 199 yards and operating for 50 on a bum ankle in a program-defining win over Georgia. Bryson Every day, welcome. The Military quarterback additionally seems, grabbing a pair of third-place votes after operating for 153 yards and two touchdowns at North Texas to maintain his group unbeaten and within the Faculty Soccer Playoff race.

That makes 5 quarterbacks among the many 9 gamers who obtained votes this week, and that sounds about proper. Besides that none of them price as severe contenders for the award, not primarily based on our voting, not at this level.

You’ve received to return to 2015, the 12 months Alabama operating again Derrick Henry gained it over Stanford operating again Christian McCaffrey, to discover a pre-Thanksgiving pool of contenders with out a quarterback making a severe push. The one different non-quarterback winner since then was Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020, and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was in there till the top (finally shedding 1,856 to 1,187).

We’re on the cusp of a 3rd non-quarterback winner previously 10 years. And for this period of soccer? That’s a fairly good decade for non-quarterbacks.

Miami’s upset loss at Georgia Tech did severe injury within the straw ballot to Miami quarterback Cam Ward’s momentum. He was the one sign caller hanging with Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter — the ballot chief by a rising margin — and Boise State operating again Ashton Jeanty. That loss dropped Ward from 41 factors to 13, from 25 ballots to 10, from third place to fourth, behind Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (one first-place vote, 14 factors).

The Athletic follows the identical voting protocol as that of the Heisman: 3 factors for a first-place vote, 2 factors for a second-place vote, 1 level for a third-place vote. Hunter overtook first place per week in the past and had a slim 57-51 lead over Jeanty, however that’s as much as a margin of 69-54. Hunter went up from 12 first-place votes to 18, and Jeanty went down from 11 first-place votes to eight — even after Jeanty ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns towards Nevada.

Hunter had 9 catches for 99 yards and a landing in a comeback win at Texas Tech, and he reminded everybody of his dominance on protection with an acrobatic interception, taken off the board by a Colorado offsides penalty. The Buffs are in a severe hunt for the Massive 12 title — and a top-four seed and Faculty Soccer Playoff bye that might possible include it — and that needs to be a serious enhance for Hunter. A lift utterly unexpected just some weeks in the past.

Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke is the fifth quarterback within the ballot, and he gained barely from final week, sitting in fifth place with 6 factors. Rourke and the Hoosiers have been their dominant selves Saturday within the first half of a win over Michigan, then sputtered for the primary time all season and held on for a 20-15 win. A gaudy stat line and rout would have helped him extra, in fact.

He does have Nov. 23 at Ohio State forward. Every day has Nov. 23 towards Notre Dame. Gabriel has an anticipated Massive Ten title recreation. Ward has a hopeful ACC title recreation. And Dart is like most quarterbacks within the SEC in that it’s attainable he may play within the league title recreation.

Alternatives are scarce. The quarterbacks are about performed. So The Athletic voters are throwing names round. How about Penn State tight finish Tyler Warren? He received a third-place vote, identical to Iowa operating again Kaleb Johnson, and people two are available tied for eighth.

BYU kicker Will “Massive Sport Invoice” Ferrin received an honorable point out after his clutch efficiency to maintain BYU unbeaten on the expense of rival Utah. Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins was into consideration for a vote, didn’t get it, however he deserves a point out, too.

Loads of others have earned that, no less than. How about Tennessee operating again Dylan Sampson? Or Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, a man who received numerous votes early, after what he did to LSU?

The pool of gamers with a shot at New York could also be increasing. The checklist of true contenders seems to be down to 2, on its approach to one.

(Picture of Ashton Jeanty: Loren Orr / Getty Photographs)