MOLESKY: Early Look at the Heisman Race

Headed into the third week of the season, the Heisman Trophy race is about as wide open as it will get this season after seeing game tape on these players. These are the top players in the Heisman running and some dark horses.

The Candidates 

Josh Rosen 

Chosen Rosen is back in our lives and it is so much fun. The Bruins quarterback is in the perfect spot to put up crazy stats, with 820 yards and nine touchdowns already on the season. His defense is just good enough to not give up 50 points per game and he has no running game to speak of. All this points to Rosen continually having to bail out his team with big games. He is a top contender.

Sam Darnold

The USC Trojans quarterback was a Heisman favorite headed into the season, and after a down game against Western Michigan, had a strong showing against Stanford. He has 605 yards and four touchdowns, though the problem he has is the four picks along with the upside. If he can keep the turnovers down, the USC quarterback is right there with Rosen.

Lamar Jackson 

The uphill battle for a player to win the Heisman twice is step one, but the explosive Louisville quarterback is picking up the season right where he left off. He has already amassed 1,010 total yards and eight touchdowns. While he is fighting his bad offensive line, he is still the best player in college football and while he is in school and healthy, he has a shot.

Mason Rudolph 

The Oklahoma State Cowboys have an explosive offense that averages 51.5 points per game. Rudolph has 638 yards with six touchdowns, along with 10.3 yards per attempt. He is more of an outside candidate but as a quarterback has a great shot because of his offense's need to put up plenty of points.

Bryce Love 

The Stanford Cardinal running back is fifth in the country with 240 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 11.3 yards per carry. Much like a Badgers or Gators running back, he will get plenty of chances to add to his yardage total. The downside to Love is that fellow running back Cameron Scarlett snags a lot of the touchdowns in the red zone. He still has the production upside in the Stanford offense.

Royce Freeman

The Oregon Ducks running back has had over 1,000 yards in his opening two seasons, and after coming back from last year's knee injury he has started out with 303 yards. While the Ducks offense relies heavily on the passing attack, he racks up plenty of touchdowns and already has six. In his healthy seasons, he had 18 and 17 touchdowns

Dark Horses 

Jonathan Taylor 

The Wisconsin Badgers running back is seventh in the country with 310 yards and four touchdowns. While he is below a few other backs, the Badgers love to run the football, which means Taylor will get a hefty workload this season.

A.J. Brown

The Ole Miss Rebels wide receiver leads all college pass catchers with 389 yards and four touchdowns. He has 24.3 yards per catch and is deep-threat talent, but also has 16 receptions and has proven to be a reliable target. It is always a long shot for a receiver to win, but with the Rebels defense set to give up plenty of points this season, the offense will need to toss the football around plenty.

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