Kirk Herbstreit names non-QB he likes in Heisman Trophy race

Quarterbacks dominated the college football discussion heading into the year and they're still a big talking point after a widely disappointing start from many of the most prominent QBs in the country, which has forced Kirk Herbstreit to look outside of the headset for a potential Heisman Trophy winner.

Herbstreit and fellow ESPN college football analyst Joey Galloway discussed a wide-open Heisman Trophy race as part of a video on Herbstreit's YouTube channel. After six weeks, neither man could produce a clear front-runner.

"Is there anybody outside of the obvious?" wondered Herbstreit, who challenged himself to look at every position on the football field. "You know, to me, sometimes we get kind of locked in on the quarterback position. We don’t always look at other guys and other potential, you know, receivers or running backs. I feel like that’s become an unfair part of this Heisman ballot and voting."

With that said, a few players on both sides of the football, and not at QB, catch his eye.

"I feel like Ahmad Hardy at Missouri," Herbstreit identified. "Yeah, he’s a guy right now. He’s averaging about seven yards a carry. I feel like he’s a big part of their identity at Missouri. If you’re just looking at who’s the best player, you could make a case for him."

Herbstreit's also been high on the Miami Hurricanes all season long and largely thanks to their studs in the trenches.

"You know, Rueben Bain at Miami, like, if you’re just looking at it just being who’s the best player in the sport — you can make a really strong case for Rueben Bain," shared Herbstreit.

He reiterates that the Heisman Trophy is about the best player. It isn't like the NFL's MVP award, in technicality, which is designed to nominate the player with the most value to their team. The Heisman is supposedly for the best, perhaps most outstanding or impactful, player in college football.

"Like if it's supposed to go to the best player, yeah, you know, you could bring up Ahmad Hardy at Missouri, Rueben Bane, Caleb Downs," Herbstreit noted.

Hardy is the current (as of Week 6) FBS leader in rushing yards with more than 700, while Bain and Downs are two likely AP First-Team All-American defenders who could be squaring off head to head for the Defensive Player of the Year award in a couple of months.

All this to say... just because some of the big-name quarterbacks have struggled does not indicate a weak year for spectacular football talents at the college level. Heisman voters may just need to break their QB tunnel vision when it's time to vote.

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