College Football 2024 Heisman Trophy Watchlist After Week 11

November 12, 2024

Justin's NCAA college football top Heisman Trophy contenders after Week 11 of the 2024 season. Top candidates include Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty.

Week 11 of the college football season is in the rearview mirror, and we have some change at the top of what officially looks like a four-player race. To steal verbiage from election coverage, it was "too early to call" the Heisman race. Now it's "too close to call."

No trophy in college sports means as much as the Heisman Trophy, which recognizes the best player in college football. That's why each week, I'll be taking stock of the top 10 contenders for the trophy.

Below are the top 10 Heisman contenders after Week 11 of the college football season. These are the 10 players who I view as having the best shot to win the trophy based on their performances this season.

10. Quinn Ewers - QB, Texas

We welcome Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers back to the rankings this week. Injuries and a loss to Georgia knocked him out, but Ewers threw five touchdown passes against Florida this week, and the Longhorns are still in firm contention in the SEC.

It's too late for Ewers to make an actual run at the award, but he deserves credit for his recent play as he's steadied the ship after the poor showing against the Bulldogs.

Season Stats: 69.3% completion rate, 1,722 yards, 19 passing touchdowns, six interceptions, one rushing touchdown

9. Cade Klubnik - QB, Clemson

Following last week's loss to Louisville, Clemson and quarterback Cade Klubnik were prime candidates to suffer a slide. Losing to an unranked team and then taking on a Virginia Tech team that came within four of upsetting Miami? Could the Tigers bounce back?

Yes was the answer. Klubnik was 16-for-34 for 211 yards and three touchdowns in the 24-14 win. He was picked off once and added 30 rushing yards.

Season Stats: 63.1% completion rate, 2,225 yards, 24 touchdowns, four interceptions, four rushing touchdowns

8. Shedeur Sanders - QB, Colorado

Another strong showing from Shedeur Sanders this week as he was 30-for-43 for 291 yards and three touchdowns while also running one in.

⌚️

Shedeur Sanders is the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week#LEGENDARY pic.twitter.com/sEptbYHODG

— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) November 11, 2024 

In a normal year, he'd be in the top five on this list, but it's just hard to win an award like this when you have a teammate who is getting most of the credit for your team's success. Still, Sanders has played his way into the No. 1 overall pick conversation in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Season Stats: 72.9% completion rate, 2,882 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, six interceptions, four rushing touchdowns

7. Jaxson Dart - QB, Ole Miss

After throwing six touchdowns against Arkansas, Jaxson Dart finished with 199 yards, one touchdown, and one interception against Georgia this week.

Now, if you didn't watch the game, you might see those numbers and the opponent and think, "Wow, Ole Miss must have been blown out," but the Rebels won 28-10. Dart leads the SEC in completion percentage, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.

Season Stats: 70.8% completion percentage, 3,409 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, four interceptions, three rushing touchdowns

6. Jalen Milroe - QB, Alabama

Whoa. Talk about a statement game.

Alabama absolutely throttled LSU this week, winning 42-13. Quarterback Jalen Milroe didn't throw a touchdown pass for the second week in a row, but he got it done other ways.

Milroe had 12 carries in Saturday's win, finishing with 185 yards and four touchdowns. He's the best dual-threat quarterback in the country and now has 16 rushing scores on the year. He's had a few turnover issues, but Milroe makes up for it by making positive play after positive play when he takes off running.

Season Stats: 65.5% completion rate, 2,046 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, six interceptions, 16 rushing touchdowns

5. Kurtis Rourke - QB, Indiana

Another week, another win for Indiana. It was a close one against Michigan, but as long as the Hoosiers remain undefeated, quarterback Kurtis Rourke remains in the hunt for the Heisman, albeit what feels like a pretty distant fifth in what's become a four-player race.

Kurtis Rourke man. Doesn’t have a crazy arm at all prolly a C+ arm at best, but holy cow his accuracy mixed with his footwork is NFL stuff, giving him a Day 2 grade and think conversations are to be had if his arm was a little stronger. Reminds me of Alex Smith in Washington. pic.twitter.com/9FANxKkpXY

— ColeNFL (@colep_nfl) November 12, 2024

This week, Rourke was 17-for-28 for 206 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He currently leads the Big Ten in yards per attempt and quarterback rating.

Season Stats: 71.8% completion rate, 2,410 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, four interceptions, two rushing touchdowns

4. Cameron Ward - QB, Miami

We've got a fairly precipitous drop here for Miami quarterback Cameron Ward, who goes from the leader to fourth after the Hurricanes suffered their first loss of the season.

But don't count Ward out yet. He's the FBS leader in both passing yards and passing touchdowns, and the Hurricanes have had just one loss this season. There's still time for another stumble or two from the players ahead of him that could vault Ward back to the No. 1 spot.

Season Stats: 66.8% completion rate, 3,494 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, six interceptions, three rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown

3. Dillon Gabriel - QB, Oregon

Dillon Gabriel becomes the top quarterback in the Heisman race this week after Miami's loss. Gabriel was 23-for-34 for 183 yards and three touchdowns in a 39-18 win over Maryland this week and is the current FBS leader in completion percentage.

Is he the most talented quarterback in the country? I wouldn't say that—in a vacuum, I'd take Ward or Sanders. But Gabriel is playing exceptional football and has the Ducks in the title chase.

Season Stats: 74.1% completion rate, 2,848 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, five interceptions, six rushing touchdowns

2. Ashton Jeanty - RB, Boise State

Ahh, there's the Ashton Jeanty we all know. After falling below 200 rushing yards in two consecutive games, Jeanty had 34 carries for 209 yards and three touchdowns against Nevada this week.

If Nevada DB28 never sees RB Ashton Jeanty on the football field again, I think he'd be okay with that. pic.twitter.com/Ce5FOSMCu5

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 11, 2024

Jeanty currently leads the FBS in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He's fallen to third in yards per carry, but that's still impressive, considering how much more volume he has than A.J. Turner and Devon Dampier.

Season Stats: 224 carries for 1,734 yards and 23 touchdowns, 16 catches for 93 yards and one touchdown

1. Travis Hunter - WR/CB, Colorado

We have a new leader, and it's Colorado's two-way player, Travis Hunter. This week, Hunter caught nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown against Texas Tech, giving him three receiving scores over the last two games.

Hunter also happens to be one of the best defensive backs in the country as well, picking off a pair of passes this season. No one impacts the game like Hunter does, as he has a hand in everything Colorado does.

Season Stats: 69 catches for 856 yards and nine touchdowns, 21 tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions

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