On Dec. 14, 2024, Travis Hunter was announced as the winner of the prestigious Heisman Trophy, an annual award for the top player in college football.
The winner is voted by 928 electors: 870 members of the media, 57 former Heisman winners, and one overall fan vote. Voters choose three people. Each first choice vote gets three points, second choice votes are worth two points, and third choice votes are one point.
The player with the most points gets the trophy.
Out of the four finalists, two phenomenal players were close to winning the award this year: Hunter, who received 2,231 points for the Heisman, and played both wide receiver and cornerback for the University of Colorado, and Boise State’s running back Ashton Jeanty, who received 2,017 points.
Although Hunter was the favorite from the beginning and the outcome wasn’t unexpected, there is a solid case for Jeanty, and I strongly believe that he should have left with the trophy.
Although I am by no means a football or sports fan, when I first heard about this, I was baffled that so many people thought that Hunter deserved the Heisman.
Jeanty has had one of the most outstanding seasons in the history of college football for a running back. According to Pro Football Focus, at the time of the Heisman awards, he was only 131 rushing yards short of the all-time record set by Barry Sanders in 1988 and had an accumulated 29 rushing touchdowns, tying for the all-time sixth place.
These stats show that he is not only one of the best running backs this season, but one of the best collegiate running backs in history.
Hunter, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable players this season. He is not only one of the best wide receivers right now, having 1,152 receiving yards at the time of the Heisman awards, but a great cornerback as well, with 688 defensive snaps. According to Sports Illustrated, he is the only player ever with over 150 offensive and defensive snaps. Any other year he should have won.
Both of them obviously have really good statistics, so why do I think Ashton Jeanty deserved the win?
While Hunter is really good at his two positions, he doesn’t play either of them at the same level that Jeanty plays running back. Hunter is both one of the best cornerbacks and one of the best wide receivers this season, but Jeanty is one of the best running backs of all time.
While Hunter performs well on both sides of the ball, which enamored Heisman voters, Jeanty dominates as a running back, demonstrating incredible ability.
Jeanty’s contribution to his team is almost unmatched; it’s very unlikely that Boise State would have performed as well as they did without him. With a season this historic and his massive contributions to his team, I think it’s clear that Ashton Jeanty is the best player this year in college football and deserved the Heisman Trophy.
