Meet Ashton Jeanty.
The running back from Boise State who has taken the college football world by storm.
Jeanty has led the Broncos to a 3-1 start, placing them in the discussion for the G5 playoff spot
Jeanty has captivated the nation’s attention and thrust himself firmly into the Heisman race alongside the usual raft of quarterbacks and two-way superstar Travis Hunter.
While blazing through the first month of the season and catching fire in his first four games, Jeanty led the nation in total rushing yards (845) and rushing touchdowns (13) on just 82 attempts (tied for 14th).
A ridiculous 10.3 yards per carry.
In the following two games since, Jeanty has added another 403 yards, four rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
On the season, he leads the nation in rushing yards (1,248) and rushing touchdowns (17) on 126 attempts (6th).
Unfortunately for Jeanty, that brought his absurd 10.3 yards per carry average down to 9.9.
The travesty.
Jeanty has gone for 200+ yards four times in six games this season.
It’s the most through a player’s first six games of a season over the last 20 seasons.
Jeanty will find himself in New York City come December, the question is, can he leave NYC with the Heisman in hand.
Jeanty’s stats compared to the previous four Heisman winning running backsTwitter: @carterbahns
A running back hasn’t won the award since Derrick Henry edged out fellow running back Christian McCaffrey all the way back in 2015.
Almost a decade ago.
Since then it’s been seven quarterbacks and one wide receiver who have taken home the award.
With his historic start, Jeanty is currently outpacing the last four running backs to win the award – Henry, Mark Ingram II, Reggie Bush and Ron Dayne.
And it’s not particularly close.
Jeanty is even lapping some of them.
Playing for a non-Power Four team only makes the mountain for Jeanty to climb that much higher.
The 20-year-old is currently fourth in odds to take home the Heisman, behind quarterbacks Jalen Milroe of Alabama and Miami’s Cam Ward, and Colorado’s Hunter.
The competition is stiff, no doubt.
But as the weeks roll on, and Jeanty continues to rack up the yardage and keeps finding the end zone, there’s no reason why the 5-foot-9, 215 pound can’t etch his name into Heisman history.
From a historical perspective, Jeanty’s 12-game pace would come out to 2,535 yards and 39 touchdowns.
That would be single-season touchdown record, surpassing the Hall of Famer, Barry Sanders’ record of 37, while falling just 93 yards short of Sanders’ single-season record for most rushing yards, at 2,628.
In summary, Jeanty is right there.
Even if he ultimately comes up short in the Heisman race, Jeanty has done himself life-changing favors in the last month.
According to On3 Sports, he raised his NIL value to $908K and is now being graded out as a first round draft prospect.
The 15th-ranked Broncos are currently first in the Mountain West, with a 5-1 record and face UNLV in a big Friday night affair.
No matter what happens the rest of the way, Heisman or not, Jeanty has set himself up for the ultimate payday.
Until then, everyone will be watching the undersized Boise State running back every Saturday and be thinking to themselves, ‘Is he really going to pull this off?’
