2019 College Football Heisman Trophy Power Rankings after Week 1

2019 College Football Heisman Trophy Power Rankings after Week 1: The first week of the 2019 College Football season is in the books, and while the Heisman Trophy can’t be won after just a game, players can certainly grab the attention of voters with a big game out of the gates. Fair or not, being a known commodity has a lot to do with a player’s ability to win the Heisman, and the sooner a player can establish themselves as a potential star, the more eyes they will have watching them going forward. With that in mind, here is a closer look at the players who wasted no time making an impression on voters with big performances in Week 1.

2019 College Football Heisman Trophy Power Rankings after Week 1

1. Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma Sooners

Hurts certainly silenced any critics that though he couldn’t keep the Oklahoma offensive machine humming. The Alabama transfer shredded Houston in a primetime matchup, completing 20 of his 23 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns and adding 176 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Piling up more than 500 yards of offense and six scores in your first start with a team is setting the bar pretty darn high, and Hurts made it clear that he wants to be the third straight Oklahoma quarterback to hoist the Heisman Trophy.

2. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama Crimson Tide

Last year’s Heisman runner-up shook off a slow start to light up the Duke defense to the tune of 336 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Tagovailoa only had one more incompletion than he had touchdowns, and he averaged 10.8 yards per attempt. He is already a household name with voters, and his ability to deliver explosive plays down the field while remaining efficient is uncanny. He is going to have big numbers with all the weapons at his disposal, and it is probably going to take an injury to stop him from going back to New York as a Heisman finalist.

3. Sam Ehlinger, QB, Texas Longhorns

He put himself on the map by helping the Longhorns knock off Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last year, and I’m not sure there is a more valuable player to a team with national title hopes than Ehlinger. The Texas backfield has been decimated by injuries, but the dual-threat quarterback shouldered the load in Week 1, throwing for 276 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 34 yards. He’s not the best pro prospect among the top college quarterbacks, but he has a knack for making the big plays on the big stages, and with games against LSU and Oklahoma still to come this year, Ehlinger will have his opportunities to move to the top of the list of Heisman contenders.

4. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin Badgers

Running backs have to have spectacular seasons and/or spectacular careers to win the Heisman, and Taylor checks both boxes. He ran for more than 4,000 yards in his first two seasons, and showed surprising versatility in Week 1, rushing for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries and adding a pair of touchdown receptions. Many were predicting a slide from the Badgers, but if Taylor can run Wisconsin back into the Big Ten title game while topping 2,000 yards on the ground, he could make a run at the all-time rushing record and the Heisman.

5. Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State Buckeyes

The Georgia transfer showed everyone why he was such a highly-touted recruit out of high school, exploding on the scene in his first start for the Buckeyes. He threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns, completing 72.0 percent of his passes, and rushed for 61 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown. A lot of eyes were on Fields and the Buckeyes in the first game of the post-Urban Meyer era, and the quarterback delivered in a big way. Now that he has showcased his upside, and he has to keep backing it up to turn the early momentum into a legitimate Heisman push.

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