Despite solid season, Ezekiel Elliott not good enough for Heisman consideration

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott was not on the list of players invited to New York for this year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony

Going into the football season, Buckeye fans had legitimate belief that there could be not just one, but potentially multiple Heisman contenders on their roster. Ezekiel Elliott was coming off of three straight games of over 200 rushing yards, and there was seemingly no reason that this shouldn’t have continued.

Whoever started for Ohio State at quarterback, either J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones, was also projected to be in the mix. As the weeks progressed, and the Buckeyes never took off on offense, these expectations were quickly lost. What started as a two-quarterback system eventually became so bad that Cardale wasn’t even seeing playing time by the end of the year.

Elliott had a solid, consistent year outside of the mind boggling game against Michigan State. This was not entirely his fault, as the coaching staff was seemingly making a conscious effort to not use him. But that one game did not overshadow a season-long effort that solidified Zeke as one of the best running backs in the history of Ohio State football. When it was all said and done, Elliott finished second in career rushing yards at Ohio State, only behind Archie Griffin.

Ezekiel’s 1672 total rushing yards on the year are fifth-best in the country. With Ohio State absent from their conference championship game and not in the College Football Playoff, Elliott does not get the same hype that Alabama’s Derrik Henry or Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey do. Both of those players were invited to New York, and it also helps that they finished first and second in total rushing yards respectively.

Clemson’s Deshaun Watson was the only other invitee, representing the number one team in the country at quarterback. Watson will look to continue a streak of five straight years that have seen quarterbacks win the award.

Elliott has already announced that he is going to the NFL, so there is no chance for him to try again next year. This entire season was a mess for the Buckeyes on offense, and it is hard to not imagine what could have been.