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Stephen A. Smith, Marcus Spears make their Heisman Trophy picks
By Keith Farner
Published:
Stephen A. Smith and Marcus Spears have digested enough of college football entering Week 3 to come up with some Heisman Trophy picks on ESPN’s “First Take.”
As an introduction to the discussion, it was noted that according to Caesar’s Sportsbook odds, the top contenders are Ohio State’s CJ Stroud (+300), Alabama’s Bryce Young (+325), Southern Cal’s Caleb Williams (+400) and Georgia’s Stetson Bennett (+1600).
Spears claimed Stroud as his choice because of Ryan Day’s offense, and the Buckeye playmakers being better than Alabama’s.
“CJ is playing with one of the better wide receivers in college football,” Spears said. “And you look at Alabama last week against Texas, they have some issues at their wide receiver spot, which goes a long way in determining the Heisman Trophy.”
Spears added that the Heisman is largely a quarterback award, and it comes down to putting up “astronomical numbers” from another position to win the award.
Smith, a noted Alabama supporter, went with Bryce Young after he discussed Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr.
Smith liked Young’s ability to win at Texas in a hostile environment, and pulled it off despite the wide receivers.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
