Heisman Trophy contenders: Dillon Gabriel headlines the Big Ten's Top 5 candidates in 2024

After a one-year hiatus, college football’s most prestigious award returned to the SEC last season, as LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was crowned the Heisman Trophy winner after his record-setting season. 

The SEC has taken home the Heisman Trophy in four of the last five seasons, with a former Oklahoma quarterback (Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield) the other players to win the award since Lamar Jackson in 2016. 

Over the next week, we’ll look at the Top 5 candidates from each Power 5 conference (and Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard). 

This year’s Heisman Trophy race figures to be as wide-open as ever. 

There is no returning winner (unlike the last two seasons) and no obvious frontrunner, either.

There’s a school of thought that the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field could provide more opportunities for players (still mostly QBs) on teams not necessarily in the mix to contend for the Heisman Trophy. With fewer and fewer undefeated teams, there could be a wider net on the pool of candidates. 

Caleb Williams became the first Heisman Trophy winner since Lamar Jackson not to lead his team to the College Football Playoff, and then it happened again with Daniels just last season.

That being said, these projections aim to identify potential candidates who have a somewhat-realistic case to contend for the award. Rarely, if ever, will a defensive player merit mention — not because stars like Caleb Downs or James Pearce aren’t worthy but Heisman Trophy voters have shown a complete refusal to even seriously consider defensive talent in recent seasons.

It was just two years ago that Will Anderson didn’t even net an invite to New York City after posing a season with over 33 tackles for loss and 17 sacks.

I debuted the series with the SEC, and today I’ll look at the top candidates from the Big Ten. The league has two transfer quarterbacks (a theme lately among the last few winners) who could merit serious consideration, plus several marquee tailbacks looking to make the position in vogue again. 

The Big Ten’s Top 5 Heisman Trophy contenders in 2024:

1. QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

Gabriel was briefly a Heisman Trophy contender last season before Oklahoma fell to rival Oklahoma State in the final Bedlam for the foreseeable future. 

The ex-Sooners’ southpaw led the Big 12 in passing, touchdowns and completion percentage in 2023, and he could repeat those numbers in the Big Ten operating Will Stein’s offense. 

The sixth-year senior should flourish as a top candidate playing on a stacked offense on a Top 5 team with championship expectations.

2. QB Will Howard, Ohio State

Howard’s odds are super-inflated (+1300 — fourth-best nationally) considering the Kansas State transfer still hasn’t even been named the Buckeyes’ official starter yet. But that’s the potential for being QB1 for Ohio State — especially this Ohio State team. 

The Buckeyes have better players than Will Howard — on both offense and defense — but the quarterback is going to get the most shine, and if Howard can do what CJ Stroud and Kyle McCord could not — beat Michigan and win the Big Ten title — then he’s going to net an invite to New York City. 

3. QB Drew Allar, Penn State

Allar had a touchdown-to-INT ratio of 25-2 last season, but the rest of his statistics were nowhere near up to snuff to contend for a spot in NYC (just 6.7 yards per attempt, 59.9% completion). But what if his 5-star traits are unlocked by new Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki? What if Allar becomes an even more dynamic version of Jalon Daniels — only on a Top 12-ish team with a chance to make the College Football Playoff?

If the junior can help the Nittany Lions break through their glass ceiling as a program and beat Ohio State to get to the Big Ten Championship then he could become the first PSU quarterback invited to New York since Kerry Collins 30 years ago.

4. RB Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State

A running back hasn’t won the Heisman since Derrick Henry in 2015, but Judkins could have the story + team to make a Cinderella run to New York City. 

The former Ole Miss tailback led the SEC in rushing as a freshman with 1,565 yards and 16 touchdowns. He followed that up with 1,158 yards and 15 scores in a banged-up sophomore season. He transferred to Ohio State this offseason where he’ll share the load with TreVeyon Henderson. 

This is likely more of a longshot bet compared to the other contenders listed, but what if Judkins goes off in Chip Kelly’s run-focused scheme? What if Will Howard struggles some and it’s Ohio State’s defense and ground game that propels the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Championship? The odds aren’t great, but if Judkins rushes for 100-yards most weeks and becomes the team’s bellcow ‘back then he’ll be in the mix come season’s end.

5. RB Donovan Edwards, Michigan

Edwards faces the same RB-Heisman conundrum as Judkins, but unlike Ohio State’s tailback, the College Football EA Sports 25 cover-art athlete is the undisputed heartbeat of Michigan’s offense. 

With offensive uncertainty at quarterback, the Wolverines are likely to lean on their power-run attack again in 2024 — and it’ll be the Donovan Edwards show. Blake Corum, who was a serious Heisman Trophy candidate in 2022 before tearing his ACL late in the season, is off to the NFL, so Edwards will get the lion’s share of carries in the fall. Corum feasted on red zone touches (27 touchdowns last season), and now all those snaps will go to Edwards. 

After rushing for 991 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore, Edwards had a bit of a down junior season (just 4.2 yards per carry) but he finished the season in style with six carries for 104 yards and two scores against Washington in the national title game. If he comes anywhere close to replicating that on a weekly basis for the reigning national champs, then Edwards will merit true consideration.

ONE WILD CARD CANDIDATE

It’s probably smart to list a Lincoln Riley quarterback on any preseason Heisman contender list — even if I’m skeptical that Miller Moss is anywhere in the same sphere as Riley’s past award-contending QBs. 

Moss threw five touchdowns in the Trojans’ bowl win but then struggled mightily this spring. He’s probably more likely to lose his job to UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava than win the Heisman but it’s possible?