CJ Stroud is one of four finalists for the prestigious Heisman award which is given to the best player in college football.
He had an incredible season for the Ohio State Buckeyes and came up just short of leading his team to the College Football Playoffs. There is a reason why Ohio State had so much success this season and most of that can be contributed to how well Stroud played. Stroud put up Heisman Trophy winner numbers as he threw for 3,862 yards and 38 touchdowns. He also led college football in QBR with an outstanding 89.8 quarterback rating.
He was incredible for most of the season but really seemed to step up in the final three weeks when Ohio State needed it most. Stroud was able to put up over 350 yards in all of Ohio State's games in the final three weeks. He even threw for 432 yards and six touchdowns against a tough Michigan State defense.
Everything that he has done this season warrants him winning the Heisman Trophy, so let's take a look at why he should walk away with the Heisman.
Three Reasons Why CJ Stroud Should Win The Heisman Trophy
3. His receivers were that good because of him
There is a reason why Ohio State arguably has the best-receiving cores in the past decade of college football. They are all high-level receivers but at the end of the day, a quarterback is the one who's going to get his receivers the football and that's exactly what Stroud did this season.
He was top eight in both touchdowns and throwing yards and also finished first in QBR. Not only was he able to do this, but he also only threw five interceptions on the season. His completion rate was also over 70% which is unheard of for somebody who threw the ball almost 400 times in a season.
C.J. Stroud had a ridiculous first half performance: 29-31, 393 pass yards and 6 touchdowns 😳 pic.twitter.com/C1row39Vz6
— ESPN (@espn) November 20, 2021
He helped Ohio State arguably be the best team in the country for most of the season. They had a disappointing loss early in the year to Oregon, and a tough loss to Michigan in their final game of the season, but besides that, Ohio State looked like the best team in the country or the second-best team in the country for most of the season.
All of Ohio State's success this season was mainly because of how good Stroud was.
2. The BIG Ten plays elite-level defense
The Big Ten has teams that are known for their defense and what CJ Stroud did against them is simply impressive. Playing teams like Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Penn State, and others is never an easy task. All of these teams in the Big Ten usually feature a high-level defense but that did not matter for Stroud. He was still able to put up over 300 yards against almost every single Big Ten team that he played as he was electric in Big Ten action. Penn State and Michigan are known for having two of the best defenses in the country and Stroud was still able to put up 305 yards against Penn State and 394 against Michigan.
The Big Ten is arguably the best conference in college football, especially on the defensive side of the ball. This did not matter for CJ as he showed the world why he should win the Heisman trophy with what he did in Big Ten play.
1. He arguably played the best down the stretch
Crowning the best player in football has to come down to somebody who is able to do it all season long. That's exactly what he did this season but he also was his best in his last four games of the season. In the last four games of the year the worst game that he had in terms of throwing yards, he went 31-38 for 361 yards and five touchdowns. When facing off against Michigan State, he helped hang 56 points on the board against one of the better defenses in the country while going 32-35 for 432 yards and six touchdowns. What he did against Michigan State is unheard of and should help him win the Heisman. At that time, it was Ohio State's biggest game of the year and he came through for the Buckeyes.
He put up video game-like numbers all season long and he did so against some of the best defenses in the country.
Stroud has done everything that he can this season to warrant him winning the Heisman award. It might be tough to win it over Bryce Young, but CJ Stroud might deserve to win this award.
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