USC Football: CFB Insider Believes ACC Standout Will Beat Out Caleb Williams in Heisman Bid

Can Williams go back-to-back this season?

USC quarterback Caleb Williams had one of the more impressive seasons last year as he went on to win the Heisman Trophy. Williams returns to Southern California for his final collegiate year and will be looking to go back-to-back. He has the skillset and the team around him to do so, but he will have some competition to win the award.

College football is getting better each season, and there is typically at least one player in the running that nobody saw coming. While Williams is the favorite to win the award again this season, one ESPN college football analyst seems to believe that it will be another quarterback that will take home the trophy this season.

Heather Dinich discussed the award on the ESPN show First Take for the upcoming season and gave her thoughts on who could win it.

“You look there at Oregon, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. from Washington, you want a running back… Blake Corum from Michigan. I really like Jordan Travis at Florida State, because think about this, Florida State beats LSU and Clemson and wins the ACC, guess who we’re talking about? That kid rushed for over 1,700 yards in his career — that’s more than any other Florida State quarterback in history. So Caleb Williams is going to see me later, he can tell me why I’m wrong.”

Per

ESPN First Take

Players like Travis and others are more than capable of winning the award, but Williams has to be seen as the favorite. With Lincoln Riley as his head coach, Williams will surely put up strong numbers again. And then, if you add in the fact that the Trojans are one of the favorites to reach the College Football Playoff, it will almost certainly mean that Williams would be right there towards the top of the candidate list.

Dinich acknowledged that Williams could win the award, but she would rather go with the field over him.

“He is certainly capable of doing it but I’m not going to predict it to happen because it is an extremely packed and talented field of Heisman possibilities,” Dinich said of Williams’ repeat chances, before running through a few other options for the award."



Per

ESPN First Take

Like any other player, the success of the Trojans this season will determine if Williams is a finalist for the award again. Both Williams and USC are looking to have a special season and bring some hardware back to campus in the process. 2023 could be another great year for USC, and everything starts with their stellar quarterback.