tee duke

Impossible to select just one, there have been so many who stand out. But for me, if you put a gun to my head, I'd say Marcus Mariota. Not just for his football talent but for the character he has always displayed. He is in a special pantheon of great role models.

Unless players get to play in front of large national audiences, they might as well be playing in Pop Warner. Visibility is critical. And both the BIG and the PAC 12 put themselves at a disadvantage to begin with by getting out of the gate late. Still, the level of play is vastly different at some of the brand name schools in a normal year; the pandemic only made things worse. Much as I love the Ducks, their level of play this year is far from elite calibre. Are the Heisman finalists this year—or in any year—the best among all players on well over 100 teams? It's anyone's guess. But the finalists have definitely drawn a lot of attention during the course of the season. About the best that can be said for what is an inherently unfair situation is that at the very least the finalists didn't screw up while operating in the glare of a very big spotlight.