Ranking the 5 best Heisman winners selected in the NFL Draft
The NFL Draft is one of the most anticipated events on the calendar for football aficionados, with the latest group of potential superstars all finding their way into the NFL.
We see legends emerge from the later rounds, with none bigger or more successful than Tom Brady, selected in the sixth round.
Antonio Gates had a Hall of Fame career, having been selected to the Pro Bowl eight times, despite going undrafted in 2003.
But what of those who are tipped for greatness? The players who are selected as the best performing prospect at the collegiate level, the Heisman Trophy winners?
The NFL Draft has seen a number of Heisman Trophy winners go on to be fantastic in the league, fulfilling their potential and more.
Who are the 5 best Heisman winners selected in the NFL Draft?
5. Joe Burrow: Quarterback, 2019 Heisman Trophy Winner
As one of the most recent Heisman Trophy winners, you may be wondering how Burrow is already one of the best, yet the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has everything to become a Hall of Famer.
After failing to earn a starting spot at Ohio State, Burrow transfered to LSU, where his simply stunning performances earned him Heisman recognition.
In 2019 Burrow led LSU to a national championship, throwing for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns. It was quite an incredible feat, and it saw the Bengals take him with the first overall selection in the NFL Draft of 2020.
What followed has been even better, with Burrow breaking the record for most pass completions in a single game by a rookie, as well as recovering from a serious knee injury to take the Bengals to the Super Bowl.
He is the franchise player in Cincinnati and will be for a long time to come. He is exactly what you want from a first-round quarterback and will only get better. This fact must be scary for the rest of the AFC.
4. Lamar Jackson: Quarterback, 2016 Heisman Trophy Winner
In three years with the University of Louisville, Lamar Jackson was an athletic phenomenon.
While registering acceptable numbers from a throwing perspective, it was his ability to rush from under center which earned him Heisman recognition in 2016.
In 13 starts for Louisville in 2016 Jackson was able to rush for 1,571 yards and score 21 rushing touchdowns himself.
For context, this is just 32 yards short of what Christian McCaffrey put up in the same college season, and he was the best running back in the draft. Jackson also scored eight more touchdowns than the future Carolina Panther.
Lamar Jackson's Heisman campaign at Louisville:
- 3,543 pass yards
- 30 pass TD
- 1,571 rush yards
- 21 rush TD
@Lj_era8 put up more than 5K yards and 50 TD! https://t.co/JS3EmNidxg
Critics were worried about whether Jackson was too unorthodox an athlete to succeed as a quarterback in the NFL, with his throwing mechanics being far from perfect.
Yet, under the tutelage of John Harbaugh, he has become the face of the franchise in Baltimore after being selected with the 32nd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
It didn’t take Jackson long to settle into the NFL, having been named the NFL MVP for the 2019 season, which was his first as a guaranteed starter with the Ravens.
Not only did he break the NFL record for rushing yards as a quarterback, but he was also the league leader in throwing touchdowns.
Two Pro Bowl appearances later, Jackson is one of the NFL’s biggest stars, and his best is still yet to come. At age 25, Jackson will be around for years to come and is likely to have a Hall of Fame career.