The case for and against each 2022 Heisman Trophy finalist, from Stetson Bennett to Caleb Williams

Bill Bender

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The case for and against each 2022 Heisman Trophy finalist, from Stetson Bennett to Caleb Williams image

The 2022 Heisman Trophy will be an interesting case study for future seasons. 

Four finalists will attend the award ceremony on Saturday. This year's field consists of four quarterbacks in Georgia's Stetson Bennett, TCU's Max Duggan, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and USC's Caleb Williams. 

Williams is the favorite, but he's the only quarterback among the group who will not participate in the College Football Playoff. How will that impact the voting for Duggan, who led TCU to its first Playoff appearance? Stroud is a Heisman finalist for the second straight season, and Bennett is the quarterback for the only school among that group that is undefeated. 

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All four quarterbacks have a case to win the Heisman Trophy, which will be awarded at the Heisman Trophy Ceremony at 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. A look at the case for each candidate (in alphabetical order by last name):  

2022 Heisman Trophy candidates

Stetson Bennett
(Getty Images)

Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia 

Pros: Bennett led the defending national champions to a perfect 13-0 record, and the veteran quarterback continues to play well in huge games. Georgia beat three ranked teams this season in Oregon, Tennessee and LSU. Bennett hit 68.4% of his passes, averaged 299.7 passing yards and finished with eight passing TDs and no interceptions. He added two rushing TDs in those games. Bennett might not have the statistics of the other quarterbacks, but he also threw just 35 passes in the fourth quarter of games this season. Some voters might want Tennessee's Hendon Hooker in this spot. Who won that game?

Cons: Bennett is on a loaded roster, and he did not take a sack in Georgia's last six games. Tight end Brock Bowers might be a better Heisman candidate if we're talking about "best player on the team," and this is an award where the stats do matter. Bennett is tied for 42nd in the FBS with 20 TD passes this season. Bennett had a three-game stretch against Kent State, Missouri and Auburn where he didn't throw a TD pass. Should Hooker be in New York ahead of Bennett? Which player meant more to their team's success in 2022? 

One stat: Bennett had a 196.4 QB rating against ranked teams in 2022. 

MORE: What a 12-team CFP bracket would look like

Getty Images

Max Duggan, QB, TCU

Pros: Who had TCU in the playoff in the preseason? Put your hands down. Duggan made first-year coach Sonny Dykes' vision come to life with a remarkable season that included five victories against ranked teams. Duggan had 30 TD passes with just four interceptions, and he added 404 rushing yards and six TDs. Duggan's masterpiece against Oklahoma – which included 418 total yards and five total TDs — was the turning point in the Big 12 season. He also had 251 passing yards and 110 rushing yards in the Big 12 championship game. 

Cons: The Horned Frogs still lost the game to the Wildcats. Duggan didn't win the starting job in fall camp, and his statistics aren't quite as gaudy as Stroud or Williams. Duggan has a 165.5 QB rating, which is slightly lower than Oregon's Bo Nix (167.0). Duggan led the Big 12 with 3,321 yards, but that's not even close to the numbers the last two Heisman winners from the conference put up. Baker Mayfield (4,627) and Kyler Murray (4,555) were way over the 4,000 yard mark in 2017 and 2018, respectively. 

One stat: TCU played four straight ranked teams from Oct. 1-22. Duggan had 15 total TDs and one interception in those games. 

THE CASE FOR: Georgia | Michigan | Ohio State | TCU

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C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State

Pros: Stroud, who finished fourth in the Heisman voting last season, tied for the FBS lead with 37 TD passes. The Buckeyes averaged 44.5 points per game; which is top among the teams in the College Football Playoff. He did that with a 66.2% completion percentage. Stroud had five games with at least 300 yards passing and six games with at least four TD passes. He was an efficient conductor of the Buckeyes' offensive machine. 

Cons: It's the same drawback for the second straight season. The Buckeyes lost to Michigan 45-23. Stroud passed for 349 yards and two TDs in the game, but a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions sealed Ohio State's fate. Teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. also might receive votes, and it will be interesting to see how many. Stroud is the only one of these four quarterbacks who didn't play on conference championship weekend, and that likely will result in him behind third or fourth in the voting. 

One stat: Stroud led the FBS with a 176.2 passer efficiency rating – which was a touch ahead of Tennessee's Hendon Hooker (175.5). 

Caleb Williams
(Getty Images)

Caleb Williams, QB, USC 

Pros: Williams is the front-runner for a reason. He led a one-year revival of USC football with first-year coach Lincoln Riley that pushed the Trojans to the Pac-12 championship game. Williams led the FBS with 47 total TDs, and that included 37 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs. Williams accounted for 342.1 yards of total offense, and he did it with an incredible blend of play-making skills that generated viral highlights each week.

Cons: Williams is the only quarterback in New York who did not make the College Football Playoff. The last quarterback to win the Heisman without the playoff was Louisville's Lamar Jackson in 2016. Jackson had 5,114 total yards and 51 TDs that season. Williams took 15 sacks in four games against ranked teams – in which the Trojans had a 2-2 record. Williams still is the front-runner, but is one of the other quarterbacks more deserving? 

One stat: Williams had 37 TD passes in 2022. USC quarterbacks totaled 38 TD passes in the 2021 and 2020 college football seasons combined.

MORE: Transfer portal QB tracker

Bill Bender

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Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.