What Makes Each Heisman Trophy Finalist Special?

Although the path to the award has been unconventional, the four finalists are special in their own way, with skill sets that dazzled all season.

Depending on who you ask, the 2021 Heisman race was wide open in a way that few have been recently. Until the very end of the season, no player clearly grasped the nation’s attention. This was not a Heisman race that bailed voters out early with a clear-cut favorite, and it forced people to even strongly consider multiple defensive players.

Although the path to the award has been unconventional, it arrives in a familiar place: Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has -5000 odds to win it. But each finalist is special in his own way, with skill sets that dazzled all season.

Aidan Hutchinson: DE, Michigan

Hutchinson is here just like the last two Michigan Men to win the award: with a Heisman moment that came at the expense of Ohio State. Hutchinson didn’t return a punt or strike a pose, he simply dominated the Buckeyes smashing a single-season Wolverines record for sacks in the process with three in that game alone (he finished with 14 total).

The Heisman is not built for solely defensive players and it’s definitely not built for defensive linemen because their splash plays are few and far between, although they’re impactful when they come. And some of what Hutchinson does is individually outstanding within the context of team defense. There isn’t really a way to put into numbers how tremendous it is to watch someone overpower an offensive lineman like this despite the fact that it doesn’t result in a sack or even really a hurry (lined up over left tackle).

But there is a simple way to show how much attention offenses have to pay him, and how little it can matter when he truly gets going.

Hutchinson has drawn seven holding penalties (second nationally) and has 73 QB pressures (nation-leading) on top of the sack number (second nationally). He is not the bendy finesse Von Miller sack artist. Instead he thumps with jolting power and a cruel snatch move. He’s at his best going through a lineman, not around him.

Hutchinson along with Will Anderson and Jordan Davis may all finish in the top 10 of Heisman voting. The Michigan standout, however, is in New York because he’ll finish in the top four.

C.J. Stroud: QB, Ohio State

Stroud and Ohio State stumbled out of the blocks in September with an up-and-down Thursday-night debut against Minnesota and then a home loss to Oregon (which to be fair, he threw for 484 yards during). It was his accuracy that left a bit to be desired before it became public knowledge that he was battling shoulder soreness in training camp and a separated shoulder early in the season. He took a game off, then came back and lit defenses up for the rest of the season as the distributor to the best WR corps in college football.

Since Stroud took that break, he has had a 73.56% completion percentage routinely making throws as if the defenders simply do not exist.

From the routine:

To the explosive:

For his Heisman moment, he simply supernova’d against Michigan State for a 32–35 performance that many quarterbacks would find difficult to produce against air in a practice setting.

It’s fair to say that had he led Ohio State to a win over Hutchinson and Michigan, it’d likely be him who took the award home—or at least forced a pretty tight voting margin with Young. Stroud finishes fourth in the nation in yards per game, second in average net yards per attempt (a metric that integrates the approximate value of touchdowns, sacks and turnovers) and basically one out of every 10 throws is a touchdown. Although he played in 11 games, he still racked up 3,862 yards through the air, good enough for eighth nationally.

Watch NCAA football games online all season long with fuboTV: Start with a 7-day free trial!

Kenny Pickett: QB, Pitt

It’s tough to say which player is more unlikely to be a Heisman finalist if you go back to September: the defensive player or the player nobody expected to have a Joe Burrow–lite renaissance. Pickett was ordinary for most of his career and ends it extraordinarily to vault himself to New York and the Panthers to an ACC title.

There were flashes from Pickett before, but there was not the consistent brilliance that he displayed all season. The gloved one delivered all season, breaking a school record for touchdowns in the process, and any time you eclipse a record set by Dan Marino, you’ve done something right.

Pickett may not have Marino’s velocity, but he gets the job done consistently with in-rhythm throws over the middle field, where he is deadly accurate with great ball placement.

Those throws may not be as sexy as a deep bomb over the top, but they do showcase perhaps his best attribute, which is throwing over the middle consistently on time, and they add up to the tune of 4,319 passing yards this season (fifth nationally, and only three yards less than Young).

He’s also a crafty quarterback able to get throws off from unconventional platforms.

And he’s very mobile, where his Heisman moment came in this devilish improvisation of a fake slide, and yes, it was on purpose:

Bryce Young: QB, Alabama

Perhaps Georgia’s Kirby Smart said it best halfway through Young’s 421-yard evisceration of his vaunted defense in what would become his signature game:

“At the end of the day you’ve gotta get to him or he’s gonna get you.”

From the very first drive of his first start in the same stadium back in September, that much was clear.

With a preternatural ability to feel and flee from pass rushers, he pulls off plays that defy belief.

Young thrived under pressure this season behind a leakier than usual Bama offensive line. He faced pressure at a higher rate than either of his fellow Heisman finalist QBs, and threw 15 of his touchdowns this season while facing pressure. And when he’s not pressured? Well, few passers come along each year who can pull off these 40-yard handoffs so cleanly.

Alabama’s offense has, at times, looked like a shell of the electric 2020 unit that powered the Tide to a national title, even snapping a seasons-long streak of scoring at least 30 points in a game. But Young has been its biggest bright spot this season, playing absolutely out of his gourd since the loss to Texas A&M, including a record performance against Arkansas in which he threw for 559 yards. And, of course, there is his Heisman moment rising to the occasion against the Dawgs. He’ll be the first Alabama quarterback to ever win the award. Perhaps we should call him Broadway Bryce? 

Sports Illustrated may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.