{"id":15272,"date":"2018-08-15T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=15272"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T18:04:00","slug":"lwocfb-way-too-early-heisman-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2018\/08\/15\/lwocfb-way-too-early-heisman-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"Way Too Early 2018 Heisman Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

August is finally here. That seemingly endless wait until toe meets leather is drawing near. Of course, there is the matter of the Heisman Trophy to discuss. Is it too early to discuss the Heisman Trophy? Quite possibly. But, in the season of predictions, it’s never too early to discuss our way too early 2018 Heisman rankings.<\/p>\n

Could this be the year of the running back? Although it may be true that a quarterback has won the award in eight of the last 10 seasons, this year is wide open. Yes, quarterbacks still dominate our list. Now, let’s get started with our initial Heisman poll for 2018.<\/p>\n

As a reminder to our mobile readers to turn your devices for a better reading view.<\/p>\n

Note: Tiebreakers were settled by alphabetical order of the players last name.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ranking<\/td>\nPlayer<\/td>\nPosition<\/td>\nTeam<\/td>\nPoints<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nBryce Love<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n69<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nJonathan Taylor<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nWill Grier<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n32<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nKhalil Tate<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nDrew Lock<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nTrace McSorley<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nTua Tagovailoa<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nJake Fromm<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nJ.K. Dobbins<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nDamien Harris<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nJustin Herbert<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nJake Browning<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nShea Patterson<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nDeebo Samuel<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nWR<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nKyle Shurmur<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nDevin Singletary<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nJarett Stidham<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nD’Andre Swift<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Top Five Candidates<\/h1>\n

1. Bryce Love<\/a><\/h2>\n

RB |\u00a0Stanford\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Next Game: 8\/31 vs San Diego State<\/p>\n

Love shocked everyone by coming back to Stanford in 2018. With that, he is the odds-on favorite to win the 2018 Heisman Trophy<\/strong>. Given the fact that he played the second half of 2017 on a bad ankle, his 2,118 rushing yards is extremely impressive. He will get his Heisman campaign started against San Diego State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2017 SEASON<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RUSHING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nYPC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2,118<\/td>\n19<\/td>\n8.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RECEIVING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
REC<\/td>\nYDS<\/td>\nYPR<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n33<\/td>\n5.5<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Jonathan Taylor<\/a><\/h1>\n

RB |\u00a0Wisconsin\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Next Game: 8\/31 vs Western Kentucky<\/p>\n

Taylor broke Adrian Peterson’s<\/strong><\/a> freshman rushing record a year ago with 1,977 yards. There is no reason to think that production will fall off with one of the best offensive lines in College Football. Wisconsin should once again be on the best team in the country this year. He should rack up yards in bunches against the Hilltoppers in week one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2017 SEASON<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RUSHING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nYPC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,977<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n6.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RECEIVING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
REC<\/td>\nYDS<\/td>\nYPR<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n95<\/td>\n11.9<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n

3. Will Grier<\/a><\/h2>\n

QB |\u00a0West Virginia\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Next Game: 9\/1 vs Tennessee<\/p>\n

Grier is the highest-ranked quarterback in our first Heisman rankings. He had a great year last season despite a late injury. West Virginia is a trendy pick to challenge Oklahoma in the Big 12 this season. A big part of that is because of Grier. He will have the highest profile game of the top five candidates in week one as he faces Tennesee in the opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2017 SEASON<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PASSING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nINT<\/td>\nCMP%<\/td>\nQBR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3,490<\/td>\n34<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n64.4<\/td>\n75.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RUSHING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nYPC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
63<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n1.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

4. Khalil Tate<\/a><\/h2>\n

QB |\u00a0Arizona\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Next Game: 9\/1 vs BYU<\/p>\n

With Lamar Jackson<\/strong><\/a> gone, Tate is the top dual-threat quarterback in the country this season. Tate had three games last year in which he ran for over 200 yards. Known as a better runner than a thrower, Tate threw for 302 yards and five touchdowns against Purdue in the Foster Farms Bowl<\/strong>. It will be interesting to see how Tate progresses with new head coach Kevin Sumlin<\/strong><\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2017 SEASON<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PASSING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nINT<\/td>\nCMP%<\/td>\nQBR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,591<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n62.0<\/td>\n92.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RUSHING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nYPC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,411<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n9.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

5. Drew Lock<\/a><\/h1>\n

QB | Missouri\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Next Game: 9\/1 vs UT-Martin<\/p>\n

Lock had an incredible 2017 with 44 touchdown passes. However, he did a lot of his damage against sub-par competition. Against Missouri State, Idaho, Connecticut, and Arkansas Lock threw 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. However, he only had 21 combined scores against the remaining eight teams on the schedule. For Lock to continue to be a Heisman contender in 2018, he will need to put up consistent numbers against all competition.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2017 SEASON<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PASSING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nINT<\/td>\nCMP%<\/td>\nQBR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3,964<\/td>\n44<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n57.8<\/td>\n74.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RUSHING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YDS<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nYPC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
111<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August is finally here. That seemingly endless wait until toe meets leather is drawing near. Of course, there is the matter of the Heisman Trophy to discuss. Is it too early to discuss the Heisman Trophy? Quite possibly. But, in the season of predictions, it’s never too early to discuss our way too early 2018 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":669,"featured_media":9553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35572],"tags":[1883,1051,895,3325,2414,2827],"class_list":["post-15272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-heisman","tag-bryce-love","tag-drew-lock","tag-heisman-trophy","tag-jonathan-taylor","tag-khalil-tate","tag-will-grier"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77559,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15272\/revisions\/77559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}