LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow Overwhelming Favorite for 2019 Heisman Trophy
The question going into Saturday night's Heisman Trophy ceremony isn't whether LSU quarterback Joe Burrow can become the second Tiger player to take home college football's most prestigious award. No, the question is how much Burrow will win by.
It's hard to believe that the talent that has come from such a storied program like LSU hasn't really come close to winning a Heisman Trophy since Billy Cannon did it in 1959. There was Jerry Stovall (1962) and Charles Alexander (1977, 1978) and Glenn Dorsey (2007) and most recently Tyrann Mathieu (2011), all of whom placed in the top-10 of the Heisman voting for their respective years.
So what Burrow is doing this year, winning enough awards to fill a small swimming pool, culminates with the big fish on Saturday, the one award that has been missing from the LSU trophy case for 60 years: the Heisman.
As part of this awards season for LSU football, Burrow has already taken home the Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year and SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award.
Burrow is deserving of every single one of these awards as he's produced one of the most prolific passing seasons in college football history, tossing for 4,715 yards and 48 touchdowns, both SEC records. His 77.9% completion percentage is on pace to break the NCAA record.
The competition is fierce, as Ohio State's Chase Young and Justin Fields along with Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts were all fantastic this year in helping lead their teams to the College Football Playoff. But none of them have accomplished what Burrow has achieved this year.
In fact, a lot of the talk surrounding this Heisman ceremony is whether Burrow will be the first unanimous Heisman winner. OJ Simpson currently leads the way in first-place votes for past Heisman winners with 855. Troy Smith of Ohio State in 2006, earned 91.63% of the Heisman votes, the largest margin of victory by any winner.
There's reason to think that Burrow could come close to or break both of the those records. As part of the AP Player of the Year voting, Burrow earned 50 of the 53 possible first-place votes. While that's not indicative of the 900+ voters of the Heisman committee, it does give proper perspective of how well regarded the media felt about Burrow's season.
Burrow's current odds to win the Heisman lie at -30,000 according to BetOnline as of Dec. 10, meaning you'd have to place $300 down on Burrow to win one $1.
"In my opinion, he should win it," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "In my opinion, he's going to win it. The best thing about Joe is he's a team player. All he wants to do is win this game. Individual awards are not high on his list. That's what makes him such a great team player."
The ceremony starts at 7 p.m. ET Saturday and will be aired on ESPN.
Here's how Burrow's stats stack up with the other Heisman finalists:
Burrow: 342-439 (77.9%), 4,715 yds, 48 TD, 6 INT, 289 yds rushing, 3 TD
Fields: 208-308 (67.5 %), 2,953 yds, 40 TD, 1 INT, 471 yds rushing, 10 TD
Hurts: 222-309 (71.8%), 3,634 yds, 32 TD, 7 INT, 1,255 yds rushing, 18 TD
Young: 44 tackles, 21 TFL, 16.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles
