The Replacements
When Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Louisville’s Jawon Pass took the field this past weekend against FAU and Alabama, respectively, they weren’t just your average, run-of-the-mill quarterbacks getting the season started.
Lost in the hoopla of the opening weekend of games was the fact that, by getting the start, these two joined a select group of players assigned a daunting task: To fill the shoes of a Heisman Trophy winner.
Talk about pressure. There have only been 82 such players in college football history.
The successor to Baker Mayfield, a junior, was excellent against FAU, passing for 209 yards and two scores on 9 of 11 passing while also rushing for 23 yards as the Sooners romped, 63-14. Things were a little tougher for Pass, the sophomore replacement for 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson, who completed 20 of 39 passes for 252 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, as the Cardinals fell to No. 1 Alabama, 51-14. But it’s how these two players finish up the rest of the season that will determine where they reside on the chart below, which catalogues the season performances of Heisman Trophy replacements.
It’s not an easy task taking over for a college football legend, so it’s understandable that some on the list handled it better than others. Three replacements did manage to win a national title in their first year taking over as a starter, but none won the Heisman itself (though two went on to win Heismans in their own right in subsequent seasons).
Here’s a year-by-year look at how replacements fared in the seasons after taking over for their Heisman predecessors. Due to the unreliability of some early statistics, we only go back to 1960 with this chart:
| Heisman winner | Replacement | Result |
| Baker Mayfield | Kyler Murray | ??? |
| Lamar Jackson | Jawon Pass | ??? |
| Derrick Henry | Damien Harris | 1,046 yards, 2 TDs |
| Marcus Mariota | Vernon Adams | 2,643 yards, 26 TDs, 6 INTs |
| Jameis Winston | Everett Golson | 1,779 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INTs |
| Johnny Manziel | Kenny Hill | 2,649 yards, 23 TDs, 8 INTs |
| Robert Griffin III | Nick Florence | 4,309 yards, 33 TDs, 13 INTs |
| Cam Newton | Barrett Trotter | 1,184 yards, 11 TDs, 6 INTs, |
| Mark Ingram | Trent Richardson | 1,679 yards, 21 TDs, 3rd in Heisman vote |
| Sam Bradford | Landry Jones | 3,198 yards, 26 TDs, 14 INTs |
| Tim Tebow | John Brantley | 2,061 yards, 9 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Troy Smith | Todd Boeckman | 2,379 yards, 25 TDs, 14 INTs |
| Matt Leinart | John David Booty | 3,347 yards, 29 TDs, 9 INTs |
| Jason White | Rhett Bomar | 2,018 yards, 10 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Carson Palmer | Matt Leinart* | 3,556 yards, 38 TDs, 9 INTs, won national title, 6th in Heisman vote |
| Eric Crouch | Jammal Lord | 1,362 yards, 12 TDs, 12 INTs, 1,412 rush yards, 8 TDs |
| Chris Weinke | Chris Rix | 2,734 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 389 rush yards, 3 TDs |
| Ron Dayne | Michael Bennett | 1,681 yards, 11 TDs |
| Ricky Williams | Hodges Mitchell | 1,343 yards, 9 TDs, 32 rec., 343 yards, 1 TD |
| Charles Woodson | James Whitley | 53 tackles, 3 INTs, 8.9 PR avg., |
| Danny Wuerffel | Doug Johnson | 2,023 yards, 20 TDs, 12 INTs |
| Eddie George | Pepe Pearson | 1,484 yards, 17 TDs |
| Rashaan Salaam | Herchell Troutman | 826 yards, 5 TDs |
| Charlie Ward | Danny Kannell | 2,781 yards, 17 TDs, 13 INTs |
| Gino Torretta | Frank Costa | 1,324 yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs |
| Desmond Howard | Derrick Alexander | 50 rec., 740 yards, 11 TDs, 2 PR TDs |
| Ty Detmer | Ryan Hancock | 2,635 yards, 17 TDs, 13 INTs |
| Andre Ware | David Klingler | 5,140 yards, 54 TDs, 20 INTs, 5th in Heisman vote |
| Barry Sanders | Gerald Hudson | 910 yards, 2 TDs |
| Tim Brown | Ricky Watters | 15 rec., 286 yards, 2 TDs, 2 PR TDs, won national title |
| Vinny Testaverde | Steve Walsh | 2,249 yards, 19 TDs, 7 INTs, won national title |
| Bo Jackson | Brent Fullwood | 1,391 yards, 10 TDs |
| Doug Flutie | Shawn Halloran | 2,935 yards, 12 TDs, 23 INTs |
| Mike Rozier | Jeff Smith | 935 yards, 7 TDs |
| Herschel Walker | Keith Montgomery | 519 yards, 7 TDs |
| Marcus Allen | Todd Spencer | 596 yards, 8 TDs |
| George Rogers | Johnnie Wright | 834 yards, 5 TDs |
| Charles White | Marcus Allen* | 1,563 yards 14 TDs, 30 rec., 231 yards, 1 TD |
| Billy Sims | David Overstreet | 678 yards, 6 TDs |
| Earl Campbell | A.J. Jones | 465 yards, 3 TDs |
| Tony Dorsett | Elliott Walker | 1,025 yards, 12 TDs |
| Archie Griffin | Jeff Logan | 1,248 yards, 6 TDs |
| John Cappelletti | Tom Donchez | 880 yards, 7 TDs |
| Johnny Rodgers | Ritch Bahe | 32 rec., 441 yards, 2 TDs, 319 rush yards, 1 TD, |
| Pat Sullivan | Randy Walls | 736 yards, 5 TDs, 7 INTs |
| Jim Plunkett | Don Bunce | 2,555 yards, 13 TDs, 16 INTs, 250 rush yards |
| Steve Owens | Joe Wylie | 984 yards, 12 TDs |
| O.J. Simpson | Clarence Davis | 1,351 yards, 9 TDs |
| Gary Beban | Jim Nader | 1,008 yards, 7 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Steve Spurrier | Larry Rentz | 1,031 yards, 3 TDs, 9 INTs |
| Mike Garrett | Don McCall | 560 yards, 5 TDs |
| John Huarte | Bill Zloch | 558 yards, 3 TDs, 9 INTs |
| Roger Staubach | John Cartwright | 943 yards, 6 TDs, 10 INTs |
| Terry Baker | Gordon Queen | 1,281 yards, 16 TDs, 12 INTs |
| Ernie Davis | Jim Nance | 417 yards, 1 TD |
| Joe Bellino | John Sai | 472 yards, 6 TDs |
* — won Heisman later in career
