Michael Penix Jr. is the early leader in The Athletic’s first weekly Heisman straw poll.
Reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams — who was picked three spots ahead of Penix in The Athletic’s preseason Heisman draft — received the second-most votes.
And Bo Nix, who went 15th in the same draft, came in third.
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Yes, we’re barely a month into the season, but quarterbacks from the Pac-12 are dominating the early Heisman discussion. And deservedly so.
Williams leads the country in passing efficiency (74.3 completion percentage, 1,200 yards, 15 touchdowns, no interceptions) and Penix is No. 2 with a nation-leading 1,636 passing yards and 16 touchdowns.
PLAYER | TEAM | POS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael Penix Jr. | QB | 20 | 13 | 1 | 87 | |
Caleb Williams | QB | 13 | 16 | 1 | 72 | |
Bo Nix | QB | 4 | 11 | 19 | ||
Jordan Travis | QB | 1 | 7 | 9 | ||
Cam Ward | QB | 6 | 6 | |||
Quinn Ewers | QB | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
Shedeur Sanders | QB | 3 | 3 | |||
Jayden Daniels | QB | 1 | 1 | |||
Tyler Van Dyke | QB | 1 | 1 | |||
Keon Coleman | WR | 1 | 1 | |||
Malik Nabers | WR | 1 | 1 |
Nix ranks 13th in passing efficiency but second in completion percentage (79.4) behind Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (79.8).
Last year, Williams debuted at No. 2 in our first Heisman Straw Poll behind eventual No. 2 pick C.J. Stroud. Williams ended up running away with the Heisman (544 first-place votes), with Stroud finishing third behind TCU’s Max Duggan.
It makes sense why the Pac-12 is dominating the early Heisman voting this year. The SEC (seven) is the only league that has more teams ranked (six) in the latest AP Top 25.
Outside of USC’s eight Heisman winners (including Reggie Bush), the Pac-12 has had only two other players win college football’s most prestigious award: Oregon’s Marcus Mariota (2014) and Stanford’s Jim Plunkett (1970). UCLA’s Gary Beban (1967) and Oregon State’s Terry Baker (1962) won the Heisman before the Athletic Association of Western Universities officially rebranded itself as the Pac-8 in 1968.
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The Athletic follows the same voting protocol as that of the Heisman: three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, one point for a third-place vote.
The surprise player who received love from the 34 writers and editors who voted? Washington State’s Cam Ward, who has put up dazzling efficiency numbers (74.5 completion percentage, 1,389 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions) and has the Cougars ranked 16th in the country.
Ward, a junior from Lake Jackson, Texas, began his career at Incarnate Word where he won the Jerry Rice Award as the most outstanding freshman at the FCS level. He then threw for 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns as a sophomore before transferring to Washington State in January 2022.
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Williams and Penix are the co-favorites to win the Heisman at +350 according to BetMGM. Texas’ Quinn Ewers is next at +600 followed by Nix (+1200), Florida State’s Jordan Travis (+1300) and Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman (+1600).
The only non-quarterbacks to debut in our poll were LSU receiver Malik Nabers and Florida State receiver Keon Coleman.
Nabers’ 523 receiving yards on 32 catches rank third nationally, and Coleman’s six touchdown catches are tied for the most among FBS receivers.
(Photo of Michael Penix Jr.: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
