Trevor Lawrence is primed to be the first Clemson football product to win the Heisman Trophy.
Sure, there are a lot of Clemson football fans that claim they no longer care about the Heisman after former quarterback Deshaun Watson did not win it in either of his final two years. However, if one is being honest, they really want to see a Tiger bring one home soon.
Unlike 2019, Trevor Lawrence has a real chance in 2020 for one simple reason – he isn’t the favorite, Justin Fields is.
Why does this matter? Look at the history of the Heisman Trophy, the preseason favorite to win the award never has. The preseason favorite has never won the award because they can never live up to the expectations that come with being the preseason favorite.
In order to win the award, a player has to surpass all expectations and blow voters away. If a quarterback is expected to throw for 4,000 yards with 40 touchdowns in a college football season as the Heisman favorite, he has to have nearly 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns to win it. Meanwhile, the winner will have been less productive but also had fewer expectations.
You don’t have to believe this to be true but the Heisman Trophy has turned into that and the past winners prove so; especially over the last decade.
Think about it, Deshaun Watson was the first college quarterback to ever throw for 4,000 yards while rushing for 1,000 yards and did not win the award. The quarterback of a team that went 9-4 won the award because he had 4 more touchdowns but didn’t have the expectations that Deshaun did coming into the season.
Trevor Lawrence is seen to have had a “down year” in 2019 even though he improved in nearly every metric. He has won 24 of 25 career starts and will have a lot to prove to outsiders in 2020.
Between his talent and the expectations placed on Justin Fields in 2020, Lawrence is primed to be the first Clemson football product to win the Heisman Trophy.