ESPN college football analysts predict 2022 Heisman Trophy winner

Thanks to the return of some of college football’s biggest stars, there’s already a clear field of top contenders for the 2022 Heisman Trophy.

Leading the odds in Las Vegas is reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young. However, the Crimson Tide quarterback would be the first player since the mid-1970s to accomplish the feat. Even great expectations for his play this season after winning last year could be a disadvantage to Young when compared to the other quarterbacks.

ESPN analysts David Hale, Adam Rittenberg, Alex Scarborough and Heather Dinich have other ideas about who could win the NCAA’s top football award in 2022. Here’s what they had to say:

Who will win the 2022 Heisman Trophy?

Hale: “I watched the Rose Bowl. The answer is CJ Stroud. Young is exceptional, but the odds of a player repeating are long. Stroud, meanwhile, put up numbers worthy of the Heisman a year ago, showed out on a big stage in his bowl game and returns a mind-boggling amount of skill position talent in 2022. And when he helps the Buckeyes end that two-year winless streak against Michigan, it’ll be all but locked up.”

Rittenberg: “Pains me to admit this, but Hale is right. The Big Ten hasn’t had a Heisman Trophy winner since Troy Smith in 2006! There’s a reluctance to go with a repeat winner in Young, and Stroud should once again put up monster numbers in Ryan Day’s offense. If Ohio State isn’t in the CFP conversation all fall, something has gone very, very wrong. Stroud will end the Big Ten’s Heisman drought and become Day’s first Heisman-winning quarterback.”

Scarborough: “Stroud is probably the right answer, but for the sake of argument I’ll take Caleb Williams. He already has good name recognition, and he’ll be under the spotlight all season with everyone looking to see how Lincoln Riley turns around USC. I know Williams has boldly said he wants to win more Super Bowls than Tom Brady, but I’d encourage him to start small and win a Heisman first.”

Dinich: “Sigh. Stroud is a smart and easy pick, and I do think Ohio State should be No. 1 this preseason and will finish in the playoff. Don’t forget, though, that reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young is also coming back. Alabama should also finish in the top four. Which brings me back to Will Anderson, the best pass-rusher in the country. So yeah, I’ll go out on a limb in March and be the one to say that all of the uproar over Anderson finishing fifth last year will change the perception in 2022 when he wins it.