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Ashton Jeanty is the Heisman favorite. How he compares to all-time great running backs

shaun goodwin
·4 min read

Before Boise State’s Saturday night game with Utah State had even finished, junior running back Ashton Jeanty had become the odds-on favorite to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy.

By halftime of the 62-30 victory, Jeanty had 186 yards and three touchdowns on just 13 carries. And that was all the action he’d see in the blowout, as he rested the entire second half after opening the game with a 63-yard rushing touchdown on Boise State’s first offensive play, and adding a 75-yard score early in the second quarter.

Before the season started, Jeanty was mentioned by some as a dark-horse Heisman candidate, but he wasn’t on the radar of oddsmakers. Unsurprisingly, the preseason top-eight favorites for the trophy were all quarterbacks — that position has dominated the award recently — led by Quinn Ewers of Texas.

Fast-forward a couple of months, and the top two Heisman candidates aren’t even quarterbacks — Jeanty leads the way, narrowly ahead of Colorado’s two-way star, Travis Hunter. Yahoo Sports has Jeanty at +200 and Hunter at +300 to win the award; FanDuel has Jeanty at +270 and Hunter at +330.

A nonquarterback hasn’t won the Heisman since Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith took the prize in 2020. Twenty of the 24 Heisman winners this century have been quarterbacks, and the last running back to win it was Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. He is still one of the NFL’s top running backs, now with the Baltimore Ravens.

After an electric start that’s seen Jeanty pick up 1,027 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns, the junior could even challenge a Barry Sanders record that seemed untouchable. The NFL Hall of Famer rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 TDs in 1988 at Oklahoma State, his Heisman-winning season — coincidentally, it was also his junior season, and his final year of college football.

Jeanty became the first player to reach 1,000 yards this season with his first-half performance against Utah State, and Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said he has no doubt that Jeanty will be in New York for the Heisman Award Ceremony on Dec. 7 as a finalist.

“Relentless,” Danielson said when describing the 5-foot-9, 215-pound superstar after Jeanty’s four-touchdown performance against Washington State last month. “Absolutely relentless.”

Even Chris Petersen, former Boise State head coach and now a Fox Sports analyst who was in Boise last week, said he had never seen a player like Jeanty. Not wanting to jinx the Bronco’s Heisman chances, Petersen wouldn’t speculate on the award, saying it was “almost blasphemy” to talk about it right now.

So through five games, how does Jeanty compare to some famous Heisman-winning running backs? Here’s how the numbers stack up.

(It’s also worth noting that Jeanty has effectively played only four games, having sat out the second half against Portland State and the second half of the Utah State rout.)

The Statesman dug up the statistics of several players at this point in their Heisman-winning seasons:

Marcus Allen (USC, 1981)

Bo Jackson (Auburn, 1985)

Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1988)

Ricky Williams (Texas, 1998)

Reggie Bush (USC, 2005)

Mark Ingram (Alabama, 2009)

Derrick Henry (Alabama, 2015)

Rushing yards (per game in parentheses)

Marcus Allen - 1,136 (227.2)

Ricky Williams - 1,086 (217.2)

Ashton Jeanty - 1,027 (205.4)

Barry Sanders - 1,002 (200.4)

Bo Jackson - 991 (198.2)

Reggie Bush - 601 (120.2)

Derrick Henry - 570 (114)

Mark Ingram - 487 (97.4)

Oklahoma State tailback Barry Sanders (21) sprints toward the end zone during the Coca-Cola Bowl against Texas Tech at Tokyo Dome on Dec. 4, 1988. The Heisman Trophy winner scored four touchdowns and rushed for 257 yards to set a new NCAA single-season rushing record.
Oklahoma State tailback Barry Sanders (21) sprints toward the end zone during the Coca-Cola Bowl against Texas Tech at Tokyo Dome on Dec. 4, 1988. The Heisman Trophy winner scored four touchdowns and rushed for 257 yards to set a new NCAA single-season rushing record.

Rushing touchdowns

Ricky Williams - 20

Barry Sanders - 17

Ashton Jeanty - 16

Marcus Allen - 12

Bo Jackson - 10

Derrick Henry - 9

Mark Ingram - 6

Reggie Bush - 6

Former-Texas tailback Ricky Williams smiles as he holds a copy of the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, Dec. 12, 1998, at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York.
Former-Texas tailback Ricky Williams smiles as he holds a copy of the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, Dec. 12, 1998, at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York.

Carries

Marcus Allen - 162

Ricky Williams - 157

Bo Jackson - 138

Barry Sanders - 130

Ashton Jeanty - 95

Derrick Henry - 93

Mark Ingram - 83

Reggie Bush - 71

SUPER BOWL XVIII: Marcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders – Allen high-steps his way down the sideline past the Washington Redskins’ Anthony Washington (24) and Todd Bowles (28) on Jan. 22, 1984, in Tampa, Fla. Allen helped the AFC champions win 38-9.
SUPER BOWL XVIII: Marcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders – Allen high-steps his way down the sideline past the Washington Redskins’ Anthony Washington (24) and Todd Bowles (28) on Jan. 22, 1984, in Tampa, Fla. Allen helped the AFC champions win 38-9.

Yards per carry

Ashton Jeanty - 10.9

Reggie Bush - 8.5

Barry Sanders - 7.7

Bo Jackson - 7.2

Marcus Allen - 7.0

Ricky Williams - 6.9

Derrick Henry - 6.1

Mark Ingram - 5.9

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty strikes a Heisman Trophy pose after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter of their game against Washington State, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Albertsons Stadium.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty strikes a Heisman Trophy pose after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter of their game against Washington State, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Albertsons Stadium.