No one could’ve imagined what the 2019 season would be like for the Trojans. Former quarterback JT Daniels, who transferred to Georgia, suffered a season-ending injury in USC’s opening game and opened the door for Kedon Slovis to step in. What a ride it must have been for him going from winning a backup quarterback role to becoming the savior of the Trojans’ season.
247Sport Director of Scouting Barton Simmons believes that Slovis can have an even bigger 2020 and could be a sleeper candidate to win the Heisman Trophy in just his sophomore season.
“Kedon Slovis is potentially one of the real faces of all of college football. I think pretty much the Pac-12 knew about him last year and a few people that followed the national scene, but man he’s going to be an absolute star in year two in that offense.”
Let’s take a look at the past three Heisman winners and compare Kedon’s lone college season.
2019: Joe Burrow, LSU
- 402 completions/527 attempts, 76.3% completion percentage
- 5,671 passing yards, 60 TD/6 INT, 202.0 Passer Rating
- 368 rushing yards, 3.2 average, 5 TD
2018: Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
- 260 completions/377 attempts, 69% completion percentage
- 4,361 passing yards, 42 TD/7 INT, 199.2 Passer Rating
- 1,001 rushing yards, 7.2 average, 12 TD
2017: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
- 285 completions/404 attempts, 70.5 % completion percentage
- 4,627 passing yards, 43 TD/6 INT, 198.9 Passer Rating
- 311 rushing yards, 3.2 average, 5 TD
2019: Kedon Slovis, USC
- 282 completions/392 attempts, 71.9% completion percentage
- 3,502 passing yards, 30 TD/9 INT, 167.6 Passer Rating
- -57 rushing yards, 0 TD
Joe Burrow was in his own world last year with the numbers that he put up. Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield were both impressive in their own right and highlight the level of play that Slovis has to rise to in order to be considered for the Heisman. One area that shows promise for Slovis that he can build off this upcoming season to improve his overall game, is his accuracy. Slovis was more accurate with a better completion percentage than Mayfield and Murray had in their Heisman seasons. Slovis may also have to do better on the ground as the previous three winners all had success in having another way of moving the ball downfield.
With the kind of season Slovis had as a true freshman, there’s still a lot of potential in him that he has yet to tap into. He could very well take his game to that next level and surprise the nation next season. What we do know for sure is that Slovis will be an important piece for the Trojans as they try to build off of an 8-5 record.
Can Slovis become USC’s next Heisman winner? Let us know in the comments below!
