Heisman Trophy leaders after Week 5 of college football

The Heisman Trophy race is heating up as more contenders run into tougher teams on their schedules and begin to prove just how effective they really are at keeping their teams winning at a high level. Our On3 Heisman Trophy ballots have once again shifted to reflect that.

Two players disappeared from ballots in the last week, with Washington State‘s Cam Ward and North Carolina‘s Drake Maye making way for a new player this week.

Let’s dive into it and see which new player was added to Heisman Trophy ballots this week.

Matt Zenitz

1. Caleb Williams, USC
2. Brock Bowers, Georgia
3. Michael Penix Jr., Washington

Williams: In his first three games against Pac-12 competition this year (10 quarters worth of action for him), Williams has thrown for 1,006 yards and accounted for 15 total touchdowns.

Bowers: In Georgia’s last three games — wins over Auburn, UAB and South Carolina — Bowers has posted 24 catches, 332 yards and three touchdowns. In just the final 20 minutes of the Bulldogs’ win over Auburn on Saturday, Bowers had six catches, 148 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Penix: Although Penix didn’t account for any touchdowns during Washington’s 31-24 win over Arizona, he posted his fifth straight 300-yard passing game to start the year. He leads the nation with 1,999 passing yards. No one else has more than 1,781.

Jesse Simonton

1. Caleb Williams, USC
2. Michael Penix Jr., Washington
3. Jordan Travis, Florida State

Williams: USC’s quarterback remains a transcendent talent, matching a career-high with six more touchdown passes in the win over Colorado. With 21 touchdowns and 11.4 yards per attempt, the only defense that looks capable of stopping Williams’ march to a second-straight Heisman Trophy is his own. Will voters penalize Williams because the Trojans don’t look like a true championship contender?

Penix: Washington’s quarterback failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time all season, but he still led the Huskies to a road win in the Pac-12 with another 300-yard performance. He ranks in the Top 5 nationally in QB rating, completion percentage, yards, yards per throw and touchdowns.

Travis: While there’s a strong case to be made for Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who had 148 yards and the game-winning touchdown after halftime to lead the comeback at Auburn, I’m not going to penalize Travis for having a bye week. He doesn’t have the video game numbers of other QBs, but his gritty performances in the wins over LSU and Clemson remain impressive.

Andy Staples

1. Caleb Williams, USC
2. Michael Penix Jr., Washington
3. Brock Bowers, Georgia

Williams: How many coaches would trade their QB1 for Williams? All of them. (Anyone who says he wouldn’t is lying.) Unfortunately for Williams, he can’t play defense. Even though that shouldn’t matter, if USC’s defense costs the Trojans a few wins, Williams could get dinged.

Penix: What does an “off” night look like for Penix? He completed 30 of 40 passes for 363 yards and his team won a conference game on the road. He won’t have many off nights, either.

Bowers: Other than Williams and Penix, there might not be a player more important to his team than Bowers. He isn’t going to win the Heisman Trophy because a tight end will never put up the kind of numbers to compete with video-game stat QBs, but Bowers’ ability to flatten defenders to spring backs for long runs and to make circus catches at crucial moments makes him one of the nation’s best players.

Charles Power

1. Caleb Williams, USC
2. Michael Penix Jr., Washington
3. Brock Bowers, Georgia

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner and presumptive No. 1 overall pick remains the top player in college football by a considerable margin. Williams continued his huge season on Saturday, passing for 403 yards and six touchdowns in USC’s win at Colorado. He still leads the nation in passing efficiency by 20 points and is pacing well ahead of his production last year.

Penix led Washington to a relatively tight road win over Arizona, passing for 363 yards with zero touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite the below average output, Washington continues to look like one of the most potent offenses nationally – and that’s without star receiver Jalen McMillan. The Indiana transfer has already thrown for nearly 2,000 yards in leading the Huskies to a 5-0 start. They take a bye week before a huge matchup against Oregon on October 14.

I view the third spot in this pecking order as highly fluid at this point in the season, with a number of candidates with viable cases for inclusion. With that said, it’s hard to watch Brock Bowers and not think he isn’t the most valuable non-quarterback to this point. Bowers put Georgia on his back, leading the Bulldogs to a tight road win against Auburn. The former On3 five-star outlier had a monster second half and finished with 8 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown. Georgia doesn’t need him to take over every week, but he’s more than capable regardless of the competition. Considering the strong work he does as a blocker in Georgia’s run game, it’s safe to say Bowers is the catalyst for the back-to-back national champs’ offense.

JD PicKell

1. Caleb Williams, USC
2. Jordan Travis, Florida State
3. Michael Penix Jr., Washington

No real changes for me, still got Caleb Williams at No. 1. He’s the best player in college football. Don’t know that it’s really that close. I mean he is USC’s defense in terms of the way that he answers scores and the way that they set the pace. Accounted for six touchdowns. Nothing really that shocking for him even though it would be other-worldly for a lot of other quarterbacks to do what he does statistically. Best in the country. I don’t know there’s a lot more I would add to that.

No. 2, Jordan Travis. Bye week, nothing really to add. I just keep going back to the fact that if we’re sticking true to what the Heisman Trophy is given out for, historically it’s like best player, best team, best moments. Jordan Travis has got some nice moments to this point in the season. The touchdown pass in overtime against Clemson, at Clemson. The statement win of sorts and playing really well against LSU. He’s playing hurt against Clemson. Just gritty performance week in and week out. Doesn’t have the same numbers, but again, if we’re going off of what we’ve seen the Heisman be given for I’m going to go ahead and say Jordan Travis is at No. 2.

Michael Penix is at No. 3, same as last week. Kind of underwhelming week for him. I’m still a little bit unsure as to what other facets that offense has, but regardless Michael Penix statistically what he does for that offense, what Washington’s doing right now has to be in that top three conversation.

There you have it, the On3 national experts’ picks for the Heisman Trophy five weeks into the season. Stay tuned, because our experts will be providing their Heisman Trophy ballots throughout the season to let you know how the race is shifting in their minds. And with Week 6 featuring a few more marquee games from some of the contenders above, there should be plenty to talk about next week.