2016 Heisman Trophy coverage: Lamar Jackson is Louisville’s first-ever winner

Jabrill Peppers was a somewhat surprising name to make the list of Heisman invites back in December. He didn’t win, but I think the Cleveland Browns draft pick is fine and an amazing athlete. It cannot be ignored that he pops because he’s a jack of all trades and not a master of one. He was in the forefront of the voter’s mind because he did what former Michigan corner Charles Woodson did, which is play all over the field in different positions.

But when you do this (and this part is just in one game, mind you), it’s going to capture folks’ attention:

Deshaun Watson should’ve won the Heisman in 2015. Derrick Henry’s win wasn’t an injustice, but the Clemson Tigers never would’ve made a Playoff run without Watson. Hard to say the same about Bama and Henry.

Lamar Jackson was the right choice last season, though if it was handed out after the season, Watson would’ve taken it.

Lamar Jackson is a Heisman Trophy winner. Louisville’s true sophomore quarterback beat out Clemson junior Deshaun Watson and three others to win this year’s award. He just had a season for the ages and now has recognition worthy of it.

It was, the vote totals made clear, a two-man race. Jackson was the first tier, with 2,144 total voting points. Watson had 1,524. Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield was third (361), while OU’s Dede Westbrook and Jabrill Peppers (209 and 208) were the fourth level. The debate effectively came down to the two ACC quarterbacks.

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson won the 2016 Heisman Trophy. In winning the award, he beat Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook, and Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers.

Jackson’s Heisman victory isn’t surprising. He was the most exciting player throughout the college football season. Despite his team finishing the regular season 9-3 with a pair of losses at the end, Jackson was truly electrifying and caught the attention of many along the way. He accounted for 51 touchdowns on what was the best scoring team in the nation, and it was almost impossible to pick against him.

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson is the first Heisman Trophy winner in his school’s history, beating out Clemson’s Deshaun Watson for this year’s award. Jackson was announced as 2016’s Heisman winner at a New York ceremony on Saturday night, with Watson not far behind among a list of five finalists.

Last year, only three players were invited to New York City for the trophy presentation, but a closer voting margin meant five were invited for the 2016 unveiling. While Jackson was a heavy favorite for the award and dominated the voting, Watson did well, coming within a couple hundred total points of winning. Still, Jackson got the sixth-highest rate of possible voting points in the last 50 years, according to ESPN: 79.5 percent.

Louisville’s sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson is the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner, becoming the first player in school history to win the award.

Jackson, a 6’3, 205-pound true sophomore, entered the night as a heavy favorite to win after finishing with 51 total touchdowns in 2016, an ACC record for scoring. He’s the only player besides fellow Heisman winners Tim Tebow and Cam Newton to score 30 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in the same season.

The Heisman Trophy will be handed out on Saturday night, and during the ceremony, a number of past winners will be paid tribute. One of those is none other than Desmond Howard, the Michigan do-it-all receiver who won the award in 1991.

Howard’s hair became a topic of conversation during this year’s ceremony, and for good reason. Back in the early 90s, his ‘do looked a bit different than how it does now. On the night he won the award, he was rocking this flat top/fade hair cut.

After what has been an exciting four months of college football filled with spectacular play across the country, it’s time to hand out the sport’s most prestigious award, the Heisman Trophy, Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN and WatchESPN.

The field is led by Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, who took the college football world by storm early in the season, putting up video game type numbers while leading an exciting Louisville squad that was at one point ranked in the top five in all major polls.

The Heisman Trophy recognizes the nation’s most outstanding college football player, and has narrowed the field of candidates to five, with the winner to be announced after 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Lamar Jackson (the favorite), Baker Mayfield, Jabrill Peppers, Deshaun Watson, and Dede Westbrook will all be in New York City, where one will join a prestigious fraternity of winners.

Jabrill Peppers might be the best pure athlete in the college game. If football were an Olympic sport with a bunch of events stitched together, like a heptathlon, I’d put my money on him to win it. He is superb, and he has a prosperous career ahead of him.

He just shouldn’t be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.