Kyler Murray wins the Heisman, but all 3 finalists were worthy

Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy Saturday night, beating out fellow finalists Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins.

Tagovailoa was a favorite to win the award pretty much all season. He wasn’t quite as good down the stretch and had a bad, injured SEC Championship right before voting closed. On the same Championship Saturday, Murray wrapped a brilliant final month by beating Texas in the Big 12 title game.

That paired with Tagovailoa’s SEC Championship made Murray the betting favorite by this week, but even still, the winner was unknown heading into Saturday night. It was the first time since 2009, when Mark Ingram beat out Toby Gerhart and Colt McCoy, that we had actual Heisman drama before the winner was announced.

This won’t be the last battle of the year (or even the highest-stakes one) between Kyler and Tua, of course. They’ll play each other in the Orange Bowl Playoff semifinal on Dec. 29.

Tagovailoa lit up defenses all season long, not throwing his first interception until Nov. 3 against LSU and throwing just three more after that. His performance each week, paired with Bama’s great offense (even by Bama standards) blowing out teams all season long made it seem like he’d run away with the award. Even with his ugly outing against Georgia, the Tide are No. 2 in Offensive S&P+. Nick Saban hasn’t had this good an offense at Bama.

Murray’s numbers seemed to get more attention as the year went on. At points, people might have downplayed them because of the Big 12’s (lack of a ) defensive reputation. But his numbers from November onward spoke for themselves: 1,724 yards and 12 touchdowns, along with another 418 and five more TDs on the ground.

Tagovailoa’s numbers weren’t as good as Murray’s, though part of that was that he barely played in fourth quarters. He was so dominant he was almost always pulled by then.

The coolest part about this is that we get to see these two incredible quarterbacks

Haskins wasn’t going to win, because he played QB in a year when Murray and Tagovailoa had the two highest passer ratings in history. (Both are ahead of Baker Mayfield, who’d set the record each of the last two seasons.) But Haskins had an incredible year on his own, finally convincing Urban Meyer to let a QB really air it out. OSU’s aerial success with Haskins is a big part of why offensive coordinator Ryan Day will be the coach going forward.

That’s the first time a school has done that since USC in 2005, with Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart winning consecutively. (Bush’s Heisman’s since been stripped, but that doesn’t change that he won it in the first place.) Replacing a prolific player like Mayfield isn’t easy to do, but Murray proved he was more than up to the task with his performance this year.

However, unlike Mayfield, he likely won’t be pursuing a career in the NFL. Murray, the No. 9 prospect selected in this year’s MLB Draft, has already signed a deal with the Oakland A’s to join the organization in 2019. It’s possible he could change course, but not probable, even though he’s expressed a desire to play both sports. Murray’s baseball talents have played a big role in his football success.

It’s certainly uncommon, but there have been past Heisman winners who have pursued baseball careers. Florida State’s 2000 winner Chris Weinke was the Blue Jays’ second-round draft pick in 1990, but he never cracked the majors. Past winners Ricky Williams, Bo Jackson, Howard Cassady, and Vic Janowicz also pursued baseball careers. Jackson and Janowicz are the only ones who made it to the MLB, but it’s hard to bet against Murray.