NFL Heisman Winners Lighting Up The Scoreboard, Stat Lines

Week seven of the NFL season ended with winners of four consecutive Heisman Trophies competing in a Monday Night Football doubleheader on Monday (Oct. 21), and all turned in impressive performances.

It’s just a reminder that winners of college football’s most prestigious award have collectively had an amazing 2024 so far.

Let’s start with last night as 2015 and 2016 Heisman-winning teammates Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson led the Baltimore Ravens to a 41-31 win over the 2017 Heisman winner Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. About an hour later, 2018 Heisman winner Kyler Murray led Arizona on a come-from-behind 17-15 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

In the Ravens’ win, Jackson passed for five touchdowns and 281 yards on 17-of-22 passing and rushed for 52 yards while Henry blasted his way to 169 yards on just 15 carries, including an 81-yard burst.

Mayfield, meanwhile, threw for 370 yards and three TDs on 31-of-45 passing, managing an offense that lost both of its top two receivers during the game.

Later that night, Murray passed for one score, ran one in, and then led the last-minute game-winning field goal drive for the Cardinals.

Henry, at the ripe old age of 30, is the NFL’s leading ground gainer with 873 yards with a league-best-tying eight rushing scores.

And before we move on from him, just a quick update on Henry as he moves up the NFL career charts. 

With his huge performance Monday, Henry has moved into 30th on the NFL’s all-time rushing chart with 10,375 yards and is 69 yards shy of fellow Heisman winner Eddie George (28th, 10,441). The next Heisman winner on the career chart is O.J. Simpson, 21st at 11,236 and certainly reachable with 10 games to go.

Jackson leads the NFL in passer rating (118.0), is tied for second in passing scores (15) and is fifth in passing yards (1,810). Oh, and he’s also 11th in the league in rushing with 455 yards and two more scores.

His five TDs Monday without an interception were his fifth such performance as a Raven in 84 starts and just three behind the NFL career-best in that category. Tom Brady had eight with 333 starts and Drew Brees had eight with 286 starts. 

Mayfield is second in the NFL in passing yards (1,859) with a league-best 18 passing TDs and he’s sixth in passer rating. Murray has passed for 1,331 yards with nine TDs and he’s rushed for 325 yards and two scores.

Then there are the Heisman’s NFL rookies, both of whom are playing at a high level. 

The biggest metric to judge any QB is where their teams are in the standings and both 2022 Heisman winner Caleb Williams and 2023 Heisman winner Jayden Daniels have their teams above .500.

Daniels has Washington atop the NFC East at 5-2 while Williams and the Bears are 4-2, a game out in the NFC North.

The two rookie QBs square off Sunday, assuming the rib injury Daniels suffered this past weekend doesn’t prevent him from playing.

Daniels is seventh in the NFL in passer rating and has completed 127-of-168 passes for 1,410 yards and six touchdowns against two interceptions while also rushing for 372 yards and four more scores.

Williams got off to a slow start but has come on strong of late, leading the Bears to three straight wins heading into their road date in D.C. He has thrown for 1,317 yards and nine TDs while rushing for 169 yards.

Williams’ most recent start saw him toss four TDs in a win over Jacksonville. He has thrown for over 300 yards in two of the past four games and has completed at least 62.2 of his passes in five of six starts.

Pivoting back to Daniels, his injury early in Washington’s win over Carolina gave an opportunity for his Heisman-winning back-up, Marcus Mariota to shine.

Mariota completed 18-of-23 passes for 205 yards and two scores in his first significant action with the Commanders. If Daniels cannot start Sunday against Washington, There will still be a Heisman-vs.-Heisman matchup with Williams and the 2014 winner.

Speaking of the Panthers, 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young has yet to find his footing as a sophomore NFL pro, currently the back-up in Carolina behind Andy Dalton.

2019 Heisman winner Joe Burrow is among the league leaders with 1,759 passing yards, completing 159-of-226 passes for a 70.4 completion percentage. He is third in passer rating (110.1) while his 14 TDs and completion percentage are both fourth-best as the Bengals have won three of four.

2020 Heisman winner DeVonta Smith recorded seven receptions in each of his first three games before getting sidelined for two weeks with an injury. He’s had limited action in two games since returning.

2013 winner Jameis Winston, the earliest Heisman winner still in the NFL, saw his first action of the season last weekend when Cleveland’s top two QBs went down with injuries.

Now, this Sunday, the 30-year-old QB will get his first career start with the Browns going up against the Ravens and its two Heisman winners.