10 Underclassmen with the Best Shot at the 2023 Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Trophy went to an underclassman last season, as sophomore USC quarterback Caleb Williams took home the award. But Williams isn't the only underclassmen to have won the Heisman in recent years.

Previously, we've seen Alabama quarterback Bryce Young win it as a sophomore in 2021, Louisville's Lamar Jackson do the same in 2016, and Johnny Manziel win it as a redshirt freshman in 2012.

Obviously we're a long ways out from the Heisman Trophy being awarded in 2023. But as we look ahead to guys in the mix for the award already, there are plenty of underclassmen that have a great shot at winning the Heisman.

Let's run through the underclassmen with the best shot to win the Heisman in 2023. Since this award typically goes to quarterbacks and running backs, this list will include mostly offensive skill position players. But there is one defensive guy worth mentioning, as well.

It's pretty interesting that all three of these programs, which have competed for playoff spots in recent years, all need to replace talented guys under center next season. But as Bryce Young, Stetson Bennett and C.J. Stroud are all off to the NFL, there are some talented underclassmen looking to replace them.

We'll start with Alabama, where Nick Saban will have a few to choose from at quarterback. The frontrunner appears to be redshirt sophomore Jalen Milroe. After Young left the Arkansas game with an injured shoulder, Milroe threw for 176 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. He rushed for another 172 yards and a touchdown on the ground, making his first career start against TAMU during Bama's 24-20 win.

Milroe will compete against redshirt freshman Ty Simpson, who completed four passes for 35 yards last season. Simpson and Milroe currently have +4000 and +5000 Heisman odds, respectively. Also in the mix will be true freshmen Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan, who were 4-star prospects from Bama's 2023 class.

At Ohio State, redshirt freshman Devin Brown, who has +6000 Heisman odds, is expected to compete for the starting job. Brown, a 4-star quarterback from OSU's class of 2022, threw for 7,961 yards with 85 touchdowns and 32 interceptions over three seasons in Daper, Utah. Behind Stroud, Brown didn't complete a single pass in 2022 and had just one rushing yard on one attempt on the season.

And finally, at Georgia, redshirt sophomore Brock Vandagriff and sophomore Gunner Stockton will be in the mix for the starting quarterback job. Vandagriff signed to Georgia's 2021 class as the nation's No. 4 signal-caller. Stockton, from the Dawgs' 2022 class, is a 4-star recruit.

Bryce Young won the Heisman as a sophomore in 2021, and C.J. Stroud was a finalist as a sophomore the same season. All of these signal-callers have the talent to potentially attend the ceremony in 2023.

Ole Miss finished 8-5 last season, with four straight losses to close the season. But the biggest bright spot of the year by far was true freshman running back Quinshon Judkins' performance.

Judkins finished with 1,567 yards rushing with 16 touchdowns, including another 132 receiving yards on 15 receptions. He finished seventh in the country in rushing yards, and first in the SEC.

The running back from Alabama broke the Ole Miss single-season records for both rushing yards and touchdowns, passing Kayo Dottley, who finished with 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns in 1949. He won the SEC Freshman of the Year Award for his efforts during the 2022 season.

His best game of the season came on Nov. 19 against Arkansas, when he finished with a career-high 214 yards and one touchdown. Judkins, who committed to Ole Miss in Sept. 2019, Judkins was a former 3-star recruit from Kiffin's 2022 recruiting class. He was the No. 46 ranked running back in the class. During Judkins' breakout season last year, this picture of Kiffin watching Judkins in high school went viral:

The Rebels landed a pair of talented transfer portal quarterbacks this offseason, in LSU's Walker Howard and Oklahoma State's Spencer Sanders. Ole Miss starter from last season, Jaxson Dart, is also still in Oxford. If Judkins can play an even bigger role in Ole Miss' offense in 2023, a Heisman invite is definitely possible.

Former Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson is the only defensive player in Heisman history, winning the trophy in 1997. Obviously, the award typically goes to guys on offense, but LSU linebacker Harold Perkins is so talented that he's worthy of being on this list.

As a true freshman last season, Perkins finished with 72 total tackles, including 13 for loss and 7.5 sacks with an interception and four forced fumbles. He finished third on the team in total tackles.

Perkins' most impressive game of the season came against Arkansas in mid-November, when he finished with three sacks, two forced fumbles and eight total tackles. After the game, LSU head coach Brian Kelly gave his star linebacker the game ball.

"Just his athletic ability, his ability to consistently make plays," Kelly said after the game. "Listen, getting him in position to make plays, too, as a true freshman. I think [defensive coordinator Matt] House has done a great job of utilizing him. Sometimes, you have a great player like that, and you don't utilize him the right way. I think our staff and Coach House has done a great job of using him to make an impact like he did today here at Arkansas."

Against Georgia in the SEC title game, Perkins finished with 10 total tackles and forced fumble.

Perkins, a former 5-star prospect out of Cypress, Texas, was the No. 1 overall linebacker from the class of 2022. In high school, the linebacker even lined up on offense and special teams. Per MaxPreps, Perkins finished with 2,445 yards rushing with 34 touchdowns, 742 yards receiving with seven touchdowns and 11 kickoff returns for 216 yards.

If LSU starts playing Perkins a bit on offense or special teams in 2023, that would be a great way to jumpstart a Heisman campaign for him.

Penn State had a successful season in 2022, punctuating an 11-2 record with a Rose Bowl victory over Utah. A big reason Penn State did so well was thanks to how true freshman running back Nicholas Singleton performed.

Singleton finished with 1,061 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns and became just the second Penn State freshman to eclipse 1,000 yards on the ground during his first season in Happy Valley, joining Saquon Barkley. Unsurprisingly, he won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award.

Singleton's best game came in Week 2 against Ohio in the Nittany Lions' home opener. He finished with 10 rushing attempts for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Per the school, his rushing total was a school record for a Beaver Stadium debut. His two touchdowns went 70 and 44 yards, and he had another 48-yard run.

In the passing game, Singleton finished with just 11 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. Apparently, PSU coaches want Singleton to improve in that area next season. If Singleton can be a threat both in the running and passing games next season, that's certainly one way to make a case for the Heisman.

A running back hasn't won the Heisman since Derrick Henry did so for Alabama in 2015. If Singleton puts up even bigger numbers than what he did last year, he could be the best chance for a running back to bring home the honors.

The Clemson Tigers will have a new starting quarterback this fall in sophomore Cade Klubnik. Klubnik, a former 5-star QB prospect from the class of 2022, replaced two-year starter DJ Uiagalelei in the ACC title game against UNC.

Klubnik threw for 279 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a touchdown during Clemson's 39-10 win. Uiagalelei appeared to see the writing on the wall and transferred to Oregon State before the Tigers' Orange Bowl game against Tennessee.

Klubnik, in his first official start for the Tigers against Tennessee, finished with 320 yards passing with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. He did have a rushing touchdown.

As Klubnik enters 2023 as Clemson's unquestioned starter, the Tigers look like they'll take a big step forward on offense next season. Returning is leading receiver Antonio Williams, who had 604 yards and four touchdowns last season, as well as starting running back Will Shipley.

Not to mention Dabo Swinney made one of the splashiest coaching hires of the cycle, landing offensive coordinator Garrett Riley from TCU to run the offense.

With Riley running the offense and a talented signal-caller like Klubnik under center, Clemson just might have what it takes to make it back to the playoff for the first time in two seasons. That, in turn, would boost Klubnik's Heisman odds.

The Longhorns finished 8-5 last season, which was an improvement from Texas' 5-7 finish in 2021. A big reason for the Longhorns' success last season was how well signal-caller Quinn Ewers played.

He arrived in Austin after starting his career at Ohio State in 2021. After losing out to C.J. Stroud for the starting job, he took a redshirt and transferred to Texas last offseason.

Ewers won the Longhorns' starting job for Week 1 against UL-Monroe and threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. On the season, he finished with 2,177 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and just six interceptions. That's despite missing three games due to injury, as the QB left Texas' game against Alabama early in the second quarter after suffering a sprained clavicle.

Ewers returned to the starting lineup against the Oklahoma Sooners for the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 8, and he threw for 289 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in Texas' 49-0 rout. Another standout performance came during the Longhorns' bowl game against Washington. Although Texas lost 27-20 to the Huskies, Ewers threw for 369 yards and a touchdown.

Entering 2023, Ewers looks primed for another big season. The Longhorns look like they will be contenders for a Big 12 title, and he gets back his leading receiver in Xavier Worthy. Texas also landed former Georgia receiver Adonai Mitchell from the transfer portal.

Ewers is expected to be in a bit of a QB battle this offseason, as 5-star QB prospect Arch Manning is already on-campus. If Ewers can win the starting job once again in 2023, he should improve upon last season and find himself in the race for the Heisman.

UNC quarterback Drake Maye had a remarkable redshirt freshman season in Chapel Hill in 2022, helping lead the Tar Heels to their first ACC title game since 2015.

He threw for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions and added another 698 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. The signal-caller finished first in the country with 5,019 total offensive yards.

Maye's performance broke UNC's single-season record for passing yards, which was previously held by Mitch Trubisky, and tied the program's single-season record for passing touchdowns.

After putting together a season like he had last year, it's not surprising that Maye currently has +1200 odds to win the Heisman, the third-best in the country.

The QB will have to deal with some changes in 2023, though. For starters, he'll have a new offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey, as Phil Longo joined Luke Fickell's staff at Wisconsin this offseason. Maye will also be without two of his biggest weapons at receiver next season, as leading wideouts Josh Downs and Antoine Green are both headed to the NFL.

Even still, Maye should be comfortable stepping into 2023 with a full season of starting experience under his belt. If he has a season similar to the one he had last year, he should be expected to receive an invitation to New York come December.

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