What Would Nick Fitzgerald Need To Do To Win The Heisman In 2018?
By Ethan Lee
What Have Recent Heisman Trophy Winners Done?
Baker Mayfield is the most recent Heisman Trophy winner. And, statistically, Mayfield was absolutely incredible. In his Heisman season, Mayfield completed 70.5 percent of his passes, threw for 4627 yards and scored 43 touchdowns while only throwing 6 interceptions.
Before Mayfield was Lamar Jackson. Jackson was notably more productive on the ground than Mayfield and was a true dual threat for the Louisville Cardinals. Still, he was good through the air as well. In his Heisman season, Jackson threw for 3543 yards and 30 touchdowns while completing 56.2 percent of his passes. On the ground, Jackson ran for 1571 yards and 21 touchdowns.
In 2014, Marcus Mariota claimed the Heisman Trophy. In that year, Mariota threw for 4454 yards and 42 touchdowns against only 4 interceptions. And, before Mariota, in 2013 Jameis Winston won the Heisman. That year, Winston threw 40 touchdowns and passed for over 4000 yards.
Also, all four of these quarterbacks helped their teams get national attention. Louisville is the only team on this list that didn’t make it into the College Football Playoffs or the BCS National Title Game in the case of Winston’s Florida State.
So, Nick Fitzgerald is going to produce at a high level and remain efficient while he does so. And on top of that, Fitz will need to lead Mississippi State to plenty of wins this season.