On3 Heisman Trophy Poll: Top 10 player rankings after Week 3

We’re now three weeks deep into the college football season for most teams, giving us a better idea which players are shaping up to be a major factor in the Heisman Trophy race. It’s still a wide open race as the first month of the season continues.

On3 stops to poll its top national analysts for their take. Voting in this poll are Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman, Chris Low, Brett McMurphy, Pete Nakos, JD PicKell and Charles Power.

Each of the national experts submitted a ballot with his top 10 players on it, and we’ve compiled the results to create a complete ranking using points — 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for second, etc. Let’s get into how the rankings unfolded below.

1. QB John Mateer, Oklahoma – 66 points

WEEKEND STATS: 20-of-34 for 282 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 7 carries for 63 yards, 1 TD
Mateer continues his track record of being an exceptional dual-threat quarterback, averaging a season-high 9.0 yards per carry against Temple. He has now scored on the ground in each of his three games so far this season.

Cutting out turnovers continues to be a focus, as Mateer has also thrown a pick in every game thus far. Still, he has elevated Oklahoma as a program and is the front-runner in the Heisman Trophy voting right now.

2. QB Tommy Castellanos, Florida State – 52

WEEKEND STATS: Bye Week
Castellanos was on a bye this week, having trounced East Texas A&M the last time out. His results in a win over Alabama in the season opener were enough to get people talking about him in the Heisman Trophy conversation.

The former Boston College product still has plenty to prove, but he’ll have ample opportunities. The biggest one is right around the corner, with a home date against No. 4 Miami looming in three weeks.

3. QB Carson Beck, Miami – 45

WEEKEND STATS: 23-of-28 for 340 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT | 6 carries for 28 yards, 1 TD
Beck continues to complete a really high percentage of his passes, sitting at 78.3% on the year now. That kind of efficiency has helped make Miami a very, very dangerous team as the first month of the season carries on.

Moreover, Beck is showing some ability to use his legs to escape pressure at times. Given how good Miami’s offensive line has been, that bodes well, as it simply provides further flexibility. Beck’s playing as well as anyone in the country right now.

4. QB Marcel Reed, Texas A&M – 41

WEEKEND STATS: 17-of-37 for 360 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT | 7 carries for 37 yards
Reed has been a revelation for the Aggies, who had a heart-stopping win over Notre Dame at the death of it on Saturday night. Reed was at his best when the lights were the brightest, connecting on the game-winning touchdown pass with mere seconds remaining.

The Texas A&M quarterback isn’t the most accurate out there — at 58.6% for the year currently — but his dynamic ability makes up for it. You can never count on Reed being down until he’s hit the ground and the whistle has blown.

5. QB Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt – 40

WEEKEND STATS: 18-of-25 for 177 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT | 11 carries for 24 yards
Pavia made a few appearances on our Heisman Trophy polling a year ago, but he ultimately faded as Vanderbilt found it difficult to keep up its winning ways against the meat of the SEC schedule. Well, Vanderbilt just convincingly knocked off a ranked South Carolina team on the road.

If he’s going to make a real run at college football’s top award, Pavia probably needs Vanderbilt to do some things it’s never done before. That means, first and foremost, taking care of business against the teams you should beat. The next two weeks: vs. Georgia State and Utah State. Win those and then the real gauntlet begins.

6. QB Devon Dampier, Utah – 38

WEEKEND STATS: 27-of-41 for 230 yards, 2 TD | 13 carries for 86 yards
Just about every week Dampier does something so ridiculously athletic it’s hard to fathom. He’s electric in every sense of the word, and Utah is benefiting greatly from his presence under center.

Now, Utah hasn’t really played an opponent with a pulse yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how Dampier fares when the competition is a little stiffer. That starts this week with a home date against No. 17 Texas Tech.

7. QB Dante Moore, Oregon – 25

WEEKEND STATS: 16-of-20 for 178 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Moore had a quieter week by his standards, the least productive statistically that he’s been so far this season. Ask coach Dan Lanning, though, and that’ll be just fine after a 34-14 road win at Northwestern.

The talented Oregon quarterback is completing 78.1% of his passes this season, one of the more efficient rates in the country. There’s so much talent around Moore that he’s capable of putting up huge numbers in any given week — and he’s already firmly on the Heisman Trophy radar.

8. DL Rueben Bain, Miami – 15

WEEKEND STATS: 6 tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup, 1 pass defended
The story of the Miami defense has been how influential the pass rush has been. And going against a talented and dynamic USF offense, Miami completely controlled things at the line of scrimmage. Bain was a huge part of that.

He’s so active getting his hands up when he can’t get pressure that he’s able to impact games even when his rush doesn’t get home. He’s a player you have to account for on the gameplan every single week.

9. S Caleb Downs, Ohio State – 11

WEEKEND STATS: 6 tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss
Downs recorded a season-high six tackles in a win over Ohio, once again showing good ability to cover a lot of ground defensively. He continues to anchor the back end for the Buckeyes.

Realistically, Downs probably isn’t posting big enough numbers currently to merit legitimate Heisman Trophy interest from many voters. That doesn’t minimize his impact at Ohio State, though. He’s an absolute stud.

10. QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, California – 10

WEEKEND STATS: 24-of-38 for 279 yards, 3 TD
Cal has quietly worked its way out to a 3-0 start, with a couple decent wins over Oregon State and Minnesota. Sagapolutele has been a huge part of that with his ability to play efficient football on offense.

He has turned it over only once via interception, while tossing six touchdown passes so far this season. His completion percentage is perfectly respectable, and he’s similar to Pavia in terms of what he does for the team from a charismatic standpoint.

Rest of the Heisman Trophy poll

11. QB Sawyer Robertson, Baylor – 8
12. WR Mario Craver, Texas A&M – 7
13. WR Chris Brazzell II, Tennessee – 5
T-14. QB Ty Simpson, Alabama – 4
T-14. QB Taylen Green, Arkansas – 4
T-14. QB Rocco Becht, Iowa State – 4
T-17. QB Joey Aguilar, Tennessee – 3
T-17. QB Haynes King, Georgia Tech – 3