No school had done what Oklahoma has done in 15 years: having consecutive Heisman winners. With Reggie Bush vacating his 2005 award, you have to go back to 1974-75 to find another team that still has consecutive Heisman winners, when Archie Griffin won it both years. No school has been home to three consecutive winners, but Oklahoma could change that.
The Past Teams
In case you forgot, the last two Heisman winners were Oklahoma quarterbacks, with Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray winning it the past two years. Baker went first overall, and some mock drafts have Kyler also going very high. In addition to this, some key members of the Oklahoma offense from last year will be returning. Two stud running backs in Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks. Sermon rushed for 947 yards and 13 TDs last year, and Brooks rushed for 1,056 yards and 12 TDs. Having a solid running game can help the passing offense, and that’s where OU’s stud receiver comes in: CeeDee Lamb. Lamb last year had 65 receptions for 1,158 yards and 11 TDs. The year before, he had 46 for 807 and 7. This is a key receiver for two Heisman winners, and could make Jalen’s job much easier.
Why Jalen Could Do It
Jalen has showed some improvement as a passer at Alabama. His yards per attempt increased every year, from 7.3 to 8.2 to 10.9 last year. Jalen’s passer rating has also increased, from 139.1 to 150.2 to 196.7. His passing improvement was put on show more as he ran less, which is a big deal because a critique of his was he took off too soon. Transitioning from the historically run heavy Alabama offense to an offense that likes throwing the ball could mean big things for Jalen. By having a coach who has had a hand in grooming solid passers in Baker and Kyler, it would not be ridiculous to expect Jalen to grow even more as a passer. Another big part of Jalen’s potential in Norman will be the defenses he is going up against.
The SEC has some of the best defenses in college football. The Big 12 does not. Looking at Big 12 scores is ridiculous. Kansas, a notoriously bad football program, hung 40 on Oklahoma this year. That is not a knock against the Big 12 or Oklahoma (sort of a knock against the Jayhawks). By competing against teams not as reliant on defenses, Jalen will improve.
Why Jalen Won’t Win the Heisman
While his rating and yards per attempt have gone up, Jalen’s passing attempts, TDs, and yardage have gone down every season. This past season’s decrease can be attributed to being benched for Tua. Tua’s a great QB, so that’s not really a negative for Hurts. However, these decreases from year one to year two are an issue. SEC defenses started preparing specifically for Jalen more, and knew his limitations. In year three, in the limited capacity he was used, Jalen showed improvement as a passer.
The issue still was his decision making. Early in his career, when he felt pressure, Jalen would put his head down and go, without keeping his eyes downfield. By year three, he did this less, but when and where he decided to throw it was still concerning. There were situations where he would throw it in too tight of coverage, try to hit a receiver while the safety is barreling down on him, and his receiver would get popped. Alabama’s stellar receiver group would make up for this by pulling the ball in, but that doesn’t make it good. Even with his improved accuracy, sometimes his decision making made it hard to tell what was a poor throw or a poor read. Jalen would throw it high so only his receiver could get it, but leave the receiver exposed. Other times, he would try to lead the receiver, but give a linebacker a shot at the receiver. Throwing mechanics are one thing, but can Jalen improve his decision making?
The Final Conclusion
If anyone can help Jalen reach that next step, it is Lincoln Riley. He helped make an undersized walk on a Heisman winner, and a really undersized quarterback a winner. Hurts has more size than both of these guys, standing at 6’2. If Jalen spends time working on his decisions, and continues to grow as a passer, expect to see him on Heisman watch lists come November.
