Trevor Knight, Oklahoma
If you’re only as good as your last game, then Knight is pretty darn good. A run-first quarterback most the season, he showed he could sling it around, too, with a 348-yard, four-TD effort against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. We know he can run — he gained 445 yards (6.6 per carry) last season, but can he throw it consistently? If so, he could be in the Heisman mix because we expect the Sooners to be a championship-level team.
Connor Cook, Michigan State
He started slow in 2013 — 6 for 16 for 42 yards vs. Western Michigan and just 135 yards on 16 of 32 passing in a loss to Notre Dame — but you could see the progress throughout the year. By season’s end, he was playing his best ball. He threw for 304 yards and three TDs in the Big Ten title game win vs. Ohio State. He then netted 332 yards and two scores to beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl. With that Spartans defense, Cook could put up AJ McCarron-like numbers and be a legit Heisman threat.
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
From spot duty in 2012 to starter in 2013, Prescott has the potential to be not just one of the SEC’s scariest offensive threats, but one of the nation’s, too. He has size (6-2, 235), speed and a big arm. He had four 100-plus yard rushing games in 2013 (including vs. SEC foes Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M), but hit less than 55 percent of his throws in the five losses he played in.
Keenan Reynolds, Navy
Is the junior quarterback a longshot? Certainly. Navy has two Heisman winners, but none since Roger Staubach won the award in 1963. Reynolds is very one-dimensional, but in this offense, that’s OK. He ran for 1,346 yards last season and his 240-yard, seven-TD game vs. San Jose State got him noticed. He only threw more than 15 passes twice and never threw the ball 20 times. He’ll get his chances on the big stage: the Midshipmen have dates with Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Mike Davis, South Carolina
The next George Rogers? Possibly. Davis is one of the nation’s top backs, but hasn’t received a ton of attention — he plays in a league where Georgia’s Todd Gurley and Alabama’s T.J. Yeldon get most the first-team mentions. But at a wrecking ball 5-9, 220-pound size, Davis had seven 100-yard games a year ago, including five vs. SEC teams. Can he do it against the best every week? He struggled against some of the better run defenses, including Missouri, Florida and Wisconsin.
Shane Carden, East Carolina
You can’t help but love what Carden has done with the Pirates. In two seasons he’s thrown for 7,255 yards, 56 TDs, 20 picks with a 68.6 completion percentage. That’s excellent. He has one of the nation’s elite receivers in Justin Hardy to throw to as well. He has a three-game stretch early in the season to prove his worth — at South Carolina, at Virginia Tech and vs. North Carolina. In ECU’s three losses in 2013, his TD-to-INT ratio was 2-7.
Jamison Crowder, Duke
Just 5-9, 175, Crowder finds a way to get open and make plays. He caught 108 passes for 1,360 yards and eight TDs last season as Duke reached the ACC title game. But he’s also a threat in the return game, bringing back two punts for scores as well. He had seven 100-yard games receiving in 2013 and David Cutcliffe will need more from his senior standout to have anywhere the success the Blue Devils experienced a season ago.
Vic Beasley, Clemson
Jadeveon Clowney was the defensive player everyone had on their Heisman short list entering last season. UCLA’s Myles Jack could be that guy in 2014, but he has a teammate rated too high on the Heisman list (Brett Hundley) to make a run. Beasley surprised by returning to Clemson. Fast and strong, Beasley is a nightmare to block. He has 23 tackles for loss and 13 sacks for the Tigers in 2013. Can he increase those numbers — unlike Clowney a year ago — and become a contender?
Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
One of the top freshmen a season ago, Hackenberg stepped right into the starting job for Bill O’Brien and, like many first-year players, had his ups and downs. He didn’t have the talent around him like Jameis Winston last season or Johnny Manziel in 2012 — and he’s not going to have talent like that while he’s in State College. But he’s the type of QB who makes everyone around him so much better. If he learned from his 2013 duds — Kent State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Nebraska — and we suspect he has, the sky’s the limit for the sophomore.
Kermit Whitfield, Florida State
Want a complete wild card? How about this Tallahassee speedster? It’s probably a stretch to put him here — he might be a season away from making serious contributions beyond the return game — but he’s fun to watch. His 100-yard kickoff return vs. Auburn in the fourth quarter of the BCS title game was jaw-dropping. Yes, this is a small sample of touches, but this is what he did as a freshman: 36.4 yards per kickoff return with two TDs, 17.8 yards on five receptions and 36.7 average yards on three carries, including TD runs of 31 and 74 yards. Speed, people, speed.
