The Buzz: The latest Heisman news and views

Heading into the final regular-season Saturday of the season, we have seen some Heisman favorites shuffled up a bit in the eyes of the college football world.

The latest Athletic straw poll certainly reflects that, with Alabama QB Bryce Young now sitting atop the vote with Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud a close second. Georgia DL Jordan Davis is third, Alabama LB Will Anderson is fourth with Michigan State RB Kenneth Walker III – who was the first the previous two weeks – now fifth.

Pitt QB Kenny Pickett is sixth while the only other player in the poll to pick up first-place votes is Georgia LB Nakobe Dean.

Yahoo! Sports has Young atop its rankings as well after his monster 559-yard, five-TD performance in a 42-35 win over Arkansas, putting him at 3,584 yards and 38 TDs for the year with just three INTs.

Stroud, likewise, is second after a 432-yard, six-TD showing in a 56-7 over Michigan State, upping his totals to 3,468 yards passing and a 36-5 TD-INT ratio.

Ole Miss QB Matt Corral, 11th in The Athletic poll, is third by Yahoo! After another strong outing in Week 12, he has 3,100 yards passing with 19 TDs with another 552 yards rushing and 10 more scores. Walker III fell to fourth following his meager 25-yard showing in the loss to the Buckeyes while Pickett was fifth.

The folks at Fansided listed Young and Stroud as 1-2 in its rankings while defenders Anderson and Davis were 3-4.

Anderson is tied for the FBS lead with 13.5 sacks, 13 of which are solo, which leads the country to go with 26.5 TFLs. Davis, at 360 pounds, has modest numbers with 23 tackles and two sacks, but is dominating the line of scrimmage for Georgia. The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel reminds voters defensive players deserve love too.

Pickett ranks third nationally in total offense (370.4) and is fifth in passing yards (3,857) – a school record BTW –  and has led the Panthers to the ACC title game. At least one ESPN reporter is on Pickett’s bandwagon. Here’s another media personality who thinks he should be getting more love.

Sporting News also echoed the above with Young and Stroud emerging as frontrunners. Both have high-profile opportunities to bolster their respective cases. Stroud and Ohio State will take on surging Michigan this weekend while Alabama has Auburn in the Iron Bowl, also a showcase for Davis. Georgia and LB Anderson, meanwhile face 3-8 Georgia Tech.

CBS’s Dennis Dodd has Stroud atop his rankings. ESPN’s Robert Griffin III has Young atop his top 5 with Stroud second and Pickett third.

ESPN makes the case for leading contenders here, citing Young, Stroud, Davis, Anderson, Walker III, Corral and Pickett.