LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, capping off a race for college football’s highest individual honor that bucked the traditional pacing this fall. Daniels spent the final weeks of the season as the frontrunner and emerged with 211 more first-place votes than his next-closest challenger despite the fact that his Tigers took two losses before the end of September and earned minimal College Football Playoff attention after their Week 1 loss to Florida State.
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But while Daniels’ electric highlights and eye-popping stats left little doubt who would take home the hardware in New York, this year’s top five finishers all made contributions to this year’s Heisman debate that won’t soon be forgotten. Below, David Ubben, Chris Vannini, Brian Hamilton, Nick Baumgardner and Ari Wasserman explain why each of the leading Heisman vote-getters built a case that helped make this race special.
1. Jayden Daniels
It’s not Daniels’ fault LSU’s defense ranked outside the top 100 in yards per play and 80th in scoring. The Tigers lost twice in their first five games to fall out of the title race, but Daniels ascended to an elite level as a passer this season while also improving as a runner. This wasn’t a top-tier Heisman field compared to many years, but Daniels did average more yards per carry (8.4) and more yards per attempt (11.7) than Johnny Manziel did in his Heisman Trophy season back in 2012, while also accounting for more touchdowns (50). Daniels was efficient and explosive, and LSU would have struggled to an even more disappointing season without him. — David Ubben
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2. Michael Penix Jr.
My first-place vote went to Penix because when I think about the biggest games, moments and plays from the 2023 college football season, I keep coming back Washington and its veteran quarterback. Penix led the Huskies’ late drive to beat Oregon during the regular season, putting them ahead for good with an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 to play. Facing third downs to put the game away at Oregon State and against Oregon in the Pac-12 title game, the Huskies put the ball in Penix’s hands, and he converted with perfect throws. His team is undefeated, has four top-20 wins and is in the College Football Playoff, and Penix is the No. 1 reason for that. His deep balls are some of the prettiest college football has ever seen.
Oddly, probably the biggest reason Penix didn’t win the award is that he struggled during some games in which UW was an overwhelming favorite (Arizona State, Stanford). Had he played up to his ability, his passing numbers would be closer to Daniels’. Still, Penix was constantly relied upon in the biggest moments of the biggest games and came through every single time. Add that context to leading the nation in passing yards and finishing in the top 15 in yards per pass and pass efficiency, and Penix was deserving of the Heisman Trophy. — Chris Vannini
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3. Bo Nix
What Nix did this season as a passer is strikingly difficult to do. Only one player in college football history has hit on a higher percentage of throws in a season, and Mac Jones only beat Nix’s 77.2 completion rate by .002 percent. One less throwaway under duress, one more connection on a quick slant, one less drop, and Oregon’s quarterback produces the most accurate season ever. That his yards-per-attempt average ranked fifth in the country only underscores the achievement. He was an android.
What Nix did over his five-year college football journey is undeniably taxing. He assumed the mantle of program-savior-by-birthright at Auburn and didn’t get crushed under it as much as suffocated by it. He cycled through head coaches and offensive coordinators. He wound up turning all of that into prelude for the best season of his career. Great ability, diligence, perseverance and hard work … every box of the Heisman qualification creed checked, then stamped, then notarized.
So why didn’t Nix pose with the trophy and give the big speech Saturday night in New York? Probably because he was a moment or two short. Oregon did not win its two biggest games. Nix was very good in both. Intelligent minds can argue it wasn’t his fault either time, and it doesn’t matter. It appears Nix had to win just a little more, to overcome the allure of those who did less or won less and maybe even endured less. Doesn’t sound fair. But fair usually has nothing to do with it. Nix probably knows that better than most by now. — Brian Hamilton
4. Marvin Harrison Jr.
For me, Harrison was the most dominant player on a high-level team in the country. His performance in Ohio State’s 20-12 win against Penn State was one of the best individual efforts I saw all year, if not the best. We often think about only quarterbacks or maybe running backs having the ability to carry a team like that, but if you watch the tape, no player in the country dealt with more attention from the opposition than Harrison, and he answered the bell one way or another every time.
Harrison was working with a first-year starting quarterback and a retooled offensive line, and he still helped carry the Buckeyes’ offense to 11 wins this season. He dealt with double teams, brackets, junk coverages and coverages teams saved especially for him at a level nobody else in college football can claim. For my money, he’s the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft regardless of position, above Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. He is arguably the best college wide receiver since Calvin Johnson. If nothing else, he deserved to be in New York City on Saturday night. — Nick Baumgardner
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5. Jordan Travis
So much goes into voting for the Heisman: statistics, memorable moments, outstanding play and, of course, what a player means to his team. But I have a voting philosophy that was taught to me by a mentor: Which player could you not tell the story of the season without absolutely having to mention?
This season, that player is Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis. Did anyone mean more to their team? It sounds like a dumb question given what the College Football Playoff committee chose to do one week ago.
For the first nine years of the CFP, it would have been unthinkable to leave out an undefeated Power 5 conference champion, especially one with two nonconference wins over SEC teams. But this year, after a shortage of upsets left all five Power 5 champions with strong cases, Florida State found itself on the outside looking in on the top four.
The CFP committee rationalized that decision by saying that Florida State was no longer the same team after Travis suffered a season-ending leg fracture in the second-to-last game of the regular season against North Alabama.
Travis was the engine that made Florida State run, even though the Seminoles supported him with a nasty defense and high-quality wide receivers like Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson.
If the CFP committee thinks that an entire team isn’t worthy of a spot in the field because of the absence of an injured player, that injured player is good enough to be on my Heisman ballot — especially in a season where the quarterback who won the award played on a three-loss team.
Travis threw for 2,576 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for another seven touchdowns. He was the ACC Player of the Year. And, perhaps most importantly, his behavior after his devastating injury exemplified what you’d expect from a true leader. Florida State isn’t in the Playoff, but Travis should have been on that stage. — Ari Wasserman
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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)