1 – Tua Tagovailoa – QB/Alabama
Arguably the most dominant Alabama team throughout the Nick Saban era is led by the sophomore quarterback who continues to have a stranglehold on the 2018 Heisman. Despite fighting through a nagging knee injury for most of the year, Tagovailoa has been near perfect on every level. Home, away, it doesn’t matter as his performances continue to take this team to new heights. Against their SEC rival Auburn, Tagovailoa threw for a cool 324 yards and 5 touchdowns while completing 78% of his passes. He also added another score on the ground in their 52-21 win. Tagovailoa finishes the regular season with 41 total touchdowns and just 2 interceptions for the #1 team in the nation.
2 – Kyler Murray – QB/Oklahoma
The two man race continues to be, well, a two man race. Murray didn’t let Tua distance himself too much, if at all. Oklahoma went in to the holiday weekend facing one of their toughest tests of the season, taking on #15 West Virginia on the road. In what seems to be a defense-less conference, the two high-powered offensive attacks did their best Chiefs-Rams impersonation by scoring over 110 combined points. Murray and the Sooners came out on top in the thrilling 59-56 affair. The future baseball pro added 4 scores (3 passing / 1 rushing) to his nation-leading touchdown total in addition to 478 total yards. Barring a hiccup this weekend in the Big 12 Championship, Oklahoma will be heading towards the College Football playoffs.
3 – Jonathan Taylor – RB/Wisconsin
One of the more disappointing seasons in recent Badgers-history has just one more game to go after their 22-point loss to Minnesota. They will likely be playing in a mid-tier bowl game that very few will pay attention to rather than a New Years-six contest. The one bright spot this team will be chasing after, however, will be the 2,000 yard mark for Taylor. The sophomore back is just 11 yards shy after his 120-yard performance against the Gophers. He ends the regular season as the nation’s leading rusher by nearly 300 yards. Taylor won’t leap frog anyone on this list, but expect him to be back in this discussion next year.
4 – Travis Etienne – RB/Clemson
Another sophomore that will be in the discussion next year is the top playmaker on the #2 ranked team in the country. Etienne received a season-high 28 carries against South Carolina in the regular season finale. He totaled 150 yards on the ground and crossed the goal line twice, upping his total to 19 rushing touchdowns, second in the nation and first among the Power 5 conferences. Statistically his numbers just aren’t in the same stratosphere as the top names on this list because of how much Clemson spreads the ball out but make no mistake, he may very well be the most dangerous player in the country when he has the ball in his hands.
5 – Dwayne Haskins – QB/Ohio State
This week’s newcomer to the watch list is the first-year starter for the #10 Buckeyes. After barely missing the top a week ago, Haskins put out an all-time performance in their big matchup against #8 Michigan. His 396 yards and 6 touchdowns with no interceptions gave him a near perfect rating and catapulted him into the discussion. Haskins has been more than solid all year, finishing the regular season with a 42:7 TD-to-INT ratio in addition to 4 more scores on the ground. Haskins has completed 69% of his passes as the Buckeyes head in to the Big 10 Title game against Northwestern.