Heisman Trophy leaders through Week 12 of college football

Another weekend of college football gave the Heisman Trophy voters plenty to consider, as some of the nation’s top players put on absolute shows in their respective games.

And we might actually have a bona fide race breaking out between LSU‘s Jayden Daniels and Oregon‘s Bo Nix at this point. Both had incredible performances over the weekend.

So how did the latest action in college football change the Heisman Trophy outlook? We checked in with On3’s national experts to answer exactly that question, getting their ballots following Week 12.

Jesse Simonton

1. Jayden Daniels, LSU
2. Bo Nix, Oregon
3. Carson Beck, Georgia

Daniels: What’s left to say about Daniels at this point? Each Saturday, LSU’s quarterback one-ups his previous splendid performance with another show-stopping game. Against Georgia State, Daniels had over 500 yards and six touchdowns, leading the Tigers to eight scores on the eight possessions he was in the game. Sure, LSU has three losses. Without Daniels’ brilliance, they’re a fringe bowl team.

Nix: Oregon’s quarterback is at least giving Daniels a real race by efficiently carving up Pac-12 defenses every weekend. Nix had over 400 yards and six touchdowns in THE FIRST HALF against Arizona State, completing 14 pass plays over 16 yards. Nix had three touchdowns over 40 yards — Texas A&M has four completions over 40 yards all season.

Beck: Georgia’s quarterback surges into the Top 3 with another ho-hum 300-yard performance in a Bulldogs blowout. Beck is leading one of the best and most efficient offenses in the country this season, and since UGA has gone into murder-ball mode coming out of its bye week, the junior has nine touchdowns to one pick and is averaging 10.3 yards per attempt.

Andy Staples

1. Jayden Daniels, LSU
2. Bo Nix, Oregon
3. Michael Penix Jr., Washington

Daniels: If you play the blind resume game, there is no choice but for Daniels to win the Heisman Trophy. He doesn’t play defense, so his team’s success relative to the team success of other contenders shouldn’t hurt him. In fact, just imagine what LSU’s record would be with anyone but Daniels starting and you realize how outstanding he’s been.

Nix: Nix continues to be ridiculously efficient, and he can lead the Ducks to touchdowns in multiple ways. He’s in complete command of that offense.

Penix: Even in the pouring rain in Corvallis, Penix throws a prettier ball than anyone. The Huskies will need him to keep pouring on the touchdown passes to win the next two and make the College Football Playoff.

Charles Power

1. Jayden Daniels, LSU
2. Bo Nix, Oregon
3. Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State

Jayden Daniels is the best player in college football, period. He clearly wins the eye test and is the most productive player, regardless of position. Daniels became the seventh Power Five quarterback since 2005 to eclipse 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in a season. That list of quarterbacks is Vince Young, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts. There’s still games to be played, but at this point, I don’t view this race as particularly close.

Bo Nix continues to be a model of efficiency in leading a surging Oregon team that looks to be barreling towards the postseason. I view the gap between Nix, Harrison, Michael Penix, Carson Beck and maybe even Jalen Milroe as close. I think the order 2-6 will be largely determined on Championship Saturday.

Marvin Harrison has a massive opportunity for a Heisman moment next week in a huge rivalry tilt against Michigan. The game has so many implications, including in the Heisman Trophy race.

JD PicKell

1. Jayden Daniels, LSU
2. Bo Nix, Oregon
3. Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State

At No. 1 Jayden Daniels. If the thought is give it to the best player on the best team, I would imagine that is based on ‘OK, well, the player must make that team the best team. He must have that impact.’ If you took Jayden Daniels off LSU, are they a seven-win team? Are they a six-win team? Because that defense has been pretty bad. He’s just been historically productive. Already has as good a numbers as Caleb Williams did, more or less, through 12 games last year. He has that through 11 games. He should win the Heisman. He’s No. 1, and I don’t think it’s that much of a discussion.

Now best player on best team probably goes to Bo Nix. He’s also putting up tremendous numbers. Could obviously have a Heisman moment and go for 400 and three touchdowns against Washington in the Pac-12 title game. Maybe that changes the whole dynamic.

At No. 3, Marvin Harrison Jr., kind of the same thought as Bo Nix, maybe he makes that move against Michigan. If he goes for like three touchdowns and 200 or 150 receiving yards, maybe that changes the conversation. He’s so dynamic and changes the entire way Ohio State plays football because he can just take over a game at wide receiver.

So there you have it, a pretty clear consensus from the On3 national experts as to who’s on top of the Heisman Trophy race right now. That said, there’s some disagreement about who might be trailing most closely in the race, which should make for some interesting discussions down the stretch as we get into rivalry week and conference championship week. Be sure to tune in next week to see how things have shifted.