2024 Heisman Trophy Winner Predictions: Vendetta Edition

2024 Heisman Trophy Winner Predictions: Vendetta Edition

We are drawing closer and closer to the best time of the year: College Football season. Vendetta is going to be bringing you a ton of content this summer and into the fall, and we are going to begin here with a roundtable predictions post on who we think the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner will be. No one got the eventual winner Jayden Daniels correct last year (although I did have him as a finalist), but someone is going to nail it this year.

I will be joined by Hanifan, Chickster, and Trey in this one. Each of us will give the player who we believe will walk away with the 2024 Heisman Trophy, and why.

Hanifan: Heisman pick: Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama

Milroe did lose a couple of his top targets in Jermaine Burton and Isaiah Bond. Though I think Kalen DeBoer’s QB-friendly system could do wonders for Milroe, who has a very intriguing blend of size, speed, and arm strength. DeBoer leveraged Michael Penix Jr. into being a Heisman finalist–could he do the same with Milroe? I think it’s in the cards. 

Chickster: Dillon Gabriel 

Dillon Gabriel is in a fantastic position to win the Heisman this year. This Oregon WR room to compliment him is nasty. Oregon may have gotten an upgrade over Bo Nix. Gabriel has had success at UCF and Oklahoma. 

The Big Ten will be competitive with the new Oregon Ducks joining the conference. With Oregon WRs like Tez Johnson, adding Evan Stewart, with Traeshon Holden, Gary Bryant Jr., and Justius Lowe’s all behind them. Gabriel will have his choice of weapons to choose from to make a Heisman case for 2024. Be on the lookout, Dillon Gabriel is a dark horse for this award.

Trey: I’m going to cheat and give two:

My pick is Quinn Ewers. It feels like Ewers has been around forever but he just turned 21. There’s still a Bambi quality here. He reclassified early and then sat another year. The positive here is there was no question who the starter is leading into this year. Everybody in the Texas room knows Ewers gives them the best chance to win over Arch Manning. The talent is clearly there with Ewers. For him, it’s all about cleaning up the footwork and it keeps refining itself year after year. I think he explodes this year and the voters see it narrative-wise that he carried the team after losing Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell. The offensive line at Texas is the best it’s ever been and they’re going to win a lot of games. Ewers wins it and enters number one pick conversation.

Long shot pick is Nico Iamaleava. Josh Heupal squeezed every ounce of talent out of Hendon Hooker. Let’s be clear; Hooker is a mid talent. He got monster numbers out of him. I think Iamaleava is a star in the making and has a chance to be generational-level Josh Allen good. It’s a matter of if the young gun is ready for prime time in year one as the starter. Maybe it’s next year. Either way, I think he’s a star waiting to blossom.

Garrett: I linked last year’s post up above, but I did end up getting two out of four of the finalists correct in Daniels and Harrison Jr. I am going to give four finalists again this year, as well as my winner. Similar to last year, I could make a case for maybe 6-10 guys to find their way to New York for the 2024 Heisman Trophy ceremony. My final four are Carson Beck (QB, Georgia), Dillon Gabriel (QB, Oregon), Quinn Ewers (QB, Texas) and a sleeper pick this year is Nico Iamaleava (QB, Tennessee).

I think the Oregon Ducks are a team to be reckoned with this year. This roster is stacked with talent all over the place, and this is after losing some key pieces to the draft. Dillion Gabriel has a loaded receiver room, the running backs are very solid, and this defense has the potential to take a major step forward this season. Dan Lanning is among the best coaches in the country, and I think there’s a real case for Oregon to be one of the favorites to win the title this year. If they are in a position to do so, the award is Gabriel’s to lose. Give me Dillion Gabriel.

Linktree!