FOX college football analyst names five sleeper picks for Heisman in 2022

It’s never too early to talk about the next college football season and R.J. Young of Fox Sports recently dropped his top five Heisman Trophy sleepers for the 2022 college football season.

💪 @RJ_Young dropped his top 5 Heisman sleepers for next season

Do you agree with his list? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Ch8BQZTSIq

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) February 4, 2022

First off, this is an excellent list of names by Young. Let’s get into it.

2022 Heisman Trophy Sleepers

1. Hendon Hooker–QB–Tennessee Volunteers: Hooker opted to return to Tennessee for the 2022-2023 season and college football fans across the country are in for a real treat. The gifted quarterback admitted a few months ago that he wasn’t happy with the grades he received back from NFL decision makers. He wasn’t ranked in the top 10 of draft-eligible quarterbacks for the 2022 NFL Draft, according to Mel Kiper, Jr. The feedback he received was a big reason why he decided to use his extra year of eligibility and return to Knoxville.

“They were saying mid-rounds,” Hooker said. “I want to go higher, so coming back was a great choice. I thought about it for a couple of days after I met with coach Heupel. I’m happy with the decision and I’m excited to come back and get it going again.”

Hooker is happy with the decision and he should be. It was a very wise move for him to come back and try to improve his stock for the 2023 NFL Draft. College football fans across America should be happy about his decision, too, because they’ll get a front row seat to watch one of the game’s marvelous talents. Hooker is electrifying with the football in his hands and the fact that he could contend for the Heisman Trophy next year is no stretch of the imagination.

After starting the year second on the depth chart behind Joe Milton, Hooker took over in Week 2 when Milton went down with an injury. The former Virginia Tech quarterback never looked back, remaining the starter for the Vols for the duration of the 2021-2022 campaign. The electrifying signal-caller finished the regular season with 2,567 yards passing, 31 total touchdowns, and just three interceptions. He also added another 561 yards on the ground. There are only a few players across the college landscape that can impact the outcome of a game the way Hooker can. Fans could very easily see him contend for the sports most coveted individual honor.

2. Mohamed Ibrahim—RB—Minnesota Golden Gophers: Ibrahim received 30 carries through roughly three quarters in Week 1 against Ohio State and could have easily broken 40 had he played the entire game. He had to exit the game early after tearing his Achilles, ending his 2021-2022 season. In those 30 carries, he shredded the Buckeye defense to the tune of 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Ibrahim’s resume at Minnesota is about as impressive as can be. In 2020, Ibrahim played in all seven of the Golden Gophers’ games, logging 201 carries for 1,076 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. While he adds less in the receiving game than some Big Ten tailbacks — last year, he had just eight receptions for 56 yards — Ibrahim receives extremely high usage in the ground game, notching over 30 carries three times, including a 41-carry, 207-yard, four-touchdown performance against Maryland.

He currently ranks eighth on Minnesota’s career rushing yardage list with 3,003 yards, despite only playing in 29 games. There’s no question as long as has a good recovery from his Achilles injury, he could very easily contend for the 2022 Heisman Trophy.

3. K.J. Jefferson—QB—Arkansas Razorbacks: Jefferson recently underwent athroscopic knee surgery a few weeks ago to clean up a lingering issue that impacted more than half his 2021 season. It’s unclear whether or not the dynamic dual-threat quarterback will miss spring ball after the surgery. The good news for Jefferson in 2022, is that his offensive coordinator, Kendal Briles, returns to the Hogs after turning down the same position with the Miami Hurricanes. That’s huge. The highly explosive dual-threat quarterback piled up big-time numbers under Briles during the 2021-2022 season.

Jefferson rushed for a team-high 664 yards and 6 touchdowns and completed 198 of 294 passes for 2,676 yards, with 21 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He had a streak of 171 consecutive passes without an interception, the second-longest in school history, come to an end in the first quarter of the Arkansas Razorbacks 24-10 win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl to cap a 9-4 season. There’s no question the ultra-talented signal-caller could sneak his way into Heisman Trophy contention in the 2022-2023 season.

4. Deuce Vaughn—RB—Kansas State Wildcats: Vaughn is one of the more unknown members on this list to college football fans across the country. But make no mistake about it, he’s the most electrifying tailback to suit up in Manhattan since the great Darren Sproles once roamed the grounds at the school. Vaughn was named a finalist this year for the Earl Campbell Trophy after the eye-popping stats he posted during the 2021-2022 season.

The 5-foot-6, 172-pound sophomore built on his impressive freshman year, more than doubling his production in his second season. Vaughn had 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, and the all-purpose back caught 47 passes for 471 yards and three scores. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Vaughn posted eight games with more than 100 rushing yards, and he never had fewer than 95 all-purpose yards in a game the whole year.

He’s one of the most explosive running backs in America and could easily sneak into contention for the 2022 Heisman Trophy. Simply put, Vaughn has greatness written all over him.

5. Quinn Ewers—QB—Texas Longhorns: Quinn Ewers landing on this list is perhaps the name that takes the biggest leap of faith. Young hasn’t even seen Ewers play a single down of big-time college football, yet thinks he could jump into Heisman contention in the 2022-2023 season? It’s an awfully big leap of faith. And it’s putting a lot of faith and trust in Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Ewers hasn’t even won the starting job yet at his new school. So, the talented quarterback landing on the list is assuming a great deal. However, the Longhorns did just pull in a ton of talent in the off-season to help the 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback, if he is able to secure the starting job down the road.

The ‘Horns reeled in the nation’s No. 5 ranked recruiting class in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus Team Rankings. The haul included a number of massive offensive linemen to help protect Ewers.

If anything, Ewers will have a ton of offensive talent at his disposal to throw to if he can win the starting job, including receiver Xavier Worthy, Wyoming transfer receiver Isaiah Neyor, running back Bijan Robinson, and others. Texas’ new passing game coordinator, Brennan Marion, did just produce a Heisman Trophy finalist in Pittbsurgh’s Kenny Pickett. So maybe he can work the same magic with the highly touted Texas star.

Ewers was one of the highest rated players in college football recruiting history coming out of Southlake Caroll (Southlake, Texas). After enrolling at Ohio State in early August and leaving just a few short months later, Ewers decided to stay in his home state and suit up for the Texas Longhorns.

He was ranked the No. 1 overall player in America in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus. He’ll get his chance in the coming years to prove he can live up to the lofty billing. It would be fascinating to watch him contend for the Heisman Trophy in the 2022-2023 season, that’s for certain. The Longhorns should have plenty of weaponry in their offensive arsenal, it’ll just be a matter of making sure all the pieces click.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle, Simon Gibbs, Sean Labar, and Ashton Pollard also contributed to this story.