Week 1 of the 2023 college football season is officially in the books, and even at the tip-top of the schedule, the Heisman Trophy picture has already been shaken up some.
The projected frontrunners like USC quarterback Caleb Williams, Florida signal-caller Jordan Travis and UNC passer Drake Maye all remain intact as expected, but some other names made huge waves.
Here’s a look into five players to watch who may not be largely listed in the top spots in the Heisman odds for right now, but could potentially make a run for it.
1. QB Michael Pratt, Tulane.
Joe Burrow had a meteoric rise in his final year at LSU, and what Pratt is doing is quite similar. It’s just that no one is calling it quite that because of the (false and unfounded) level of competition narrative that exists when it comes to G5 quarterbacks that has been disproven time and time again at the NFL level.
Pratt was an essential part in Tulane completing the most impressive turnaround in the history of the sports, which was topped off with a 46-45 win over Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans in the Cotton Bowl.
He came out of the 2022 season with a much-improved stat line and body of film after a much healthier year with a better supporting cast completing 63.6% of his passes for 3,010 yards with 27 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The Boca Raton native picked up exactly where he left off in the Week 1 victory over the South Alabama Jaguars, completing 14-of-15 passes for 294 yards with 4 touchdowns. The same type of toughness, ability to make plays on the move both as a passer and a runner from last year as well as an improved level of decisiveness and timing were on display.
While there has been concern as to just what capacity Pratt will be in during the upcoming matchup against Ole Miss after he took a nasty hit in the opener, performing well in this game could skyrocket boost his draft stock (currently projected to be in the third or fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft).
2. QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado.
Sanders, the son of NFL legend, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders, is already making history just one game into his Colorado career after transferring over from Jackson State to continue playing under his father.
In that debut for the program, Sanders played a critical role in leading the Buffaloes to a statement 45-42 win over the TCU Horned Frogs completing 38-of-47 passes for 510 yards with 4 touchdowns.
He is the first quarterback in program history to throw for 500 or more yards, making it all look easy against a team that earned the right to play in the latest national championship.
Starting off the third year of his college football career on the field, Sanders has little flaw to his game and has developed ahead of schedule after finishing 2022 with a 70.6% completion rate while passing for 3,732 yards, 40 touchdowns and just six interceptions on 483 attempts.
Even in the early points, Sanders’ mental processing ability has appeared veteran-like and while he rarely puts the football in harm’s way, he’s also not afraid to trust his receiver on a 50/50 ball and has shown the ability to function at a high level both in and out of structure.
With a sky-high ceiling, expect him to continue to rise as an early-round draft pick.
3. RB Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss.
It’s true, the Heisman Trophy usually ends up being a quarterback award. But there absolutely are exceptions and Judkins has already made a case for himself to be one of those after taking the nation by storm in only the first year of his college football career.
It’s not out of the picture for him to statistically lead all college running backs (or at least finish in the top cut by the end of the season), after he ranked seventh nationally in rushing yards with 1,567 total and 16 touchdowns on the ground.
The only rushers ahead of him in those rankings were Brad Roberts (Air Force), DeWayne McBride (UAB), Mohamed Ibrahim (Minnesota), Chase Brown (Illinois), Tyjae Spears (Tulane) and Bijan Robinson (Texas).
Judkins finished out the Rebels’ 73-7 win over Mercer with 13 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns as multiple players across different positions got the opportunity to see the field because of the way the Rebels dominated out of the gate.
He ended off the 2022 season with 274 carries for 1,567 yards with 16 touchdowns.
4. QB Drew Allar, Penn State.
When Sean Clifford left Penn State, the Nittany Lions had a void to fill in the lack of a veteran presence like him. And they did just that by adding the highest-rated quarterback recruit in program history.
Allar was the top quarterback in the class of 2022 according to 247Sports and the No. 3 overall recruit in the class. While it’s still early on, the team looks to be in good hands with Allar at the helm.
He finished out Saturday’s 38-15 win over West Virginia 21-of-29 passing for 325 yards with three touchdowns after coming out of the 2022 season 35-of-60 passing for 344 yards and four touchdowns in limited action.
With Penn State expected to lean more into the passing game this season, something that the type of arm talent and foundation as an accurate pure passer the former 5-star recruit Allar brings to the table, it could be a big season for nationally-ranked PSU.
5. QB Joe Milton III, Tennessee
Hendon Hooker is one of the best quarterbacks the Tennessee Volunteers have had come through the program in recent history, but the depth that Milton added gave the Vols arguably one of the strongest quarterback rooms in the nation.
Now, it’s Milton’s turn to take the reins.
Within head coach Josh Heupel’s offense, which has several Air Raid elements to it, Milton has thrived when he is afforded the stage.
He comes off of a 2022 season in which he completed 53-of-82 passes for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns as he saw the field sparingly in reserve.
In the season-opening, 49-13 win over UVA, he completed 21 of 30 passing attempts for 201 yards with two touchdowns, making a positive first impression where his Heisman case in concerned. While there are still concerns with overall touch on passes, Milton has impressed with his raw tools, mobility, athleticism, mechanics and release time.
How he continues to grow in the starting role at Tennessee will be something to watch.
