Heisman Trophy dark horse candidates include Conner Weigman, Kyron Drones and Garrett Greene

Intro Carson Beck Dylan Gabriel and Quinn ERS are the favorites but is there a dark horse lurking in the race for the Heisman Trophy we'll talk about that and more in today's edition of college football smothered in covered powered by lock you are locked on college football smothered and covered with your host Barrett Sally your One-Stop shop for everything college football part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey welcome in and thank you for making college football smothered and covered powered by lock on your first listen every day we're free and available wherever you get your podcast and of course on YouTube as well we are part of the locked on network your team every day and today's episode brought to you by Game Time today's episode is loaded with a bunch of talk about games and need to go see those games right so go to the game time app create an account and use code locked on College that's locked on college for $20 off your first purchase terms apply download game time today what time is it it's game time and right now it is time to talk about the Heisman Trophy we can sit here and say you know it's gonna be Quinn ERS it's gonna be Carson Beck it's going to be Dylan Gabriel or whatever those are easy we'll talk about well I will tell you my pick for the Heisman Trophy a little bit later but what fun is it to say well one of the favorites is going to go on and make it even if you believe that it's no fun so we're gonna talk about Dark Horse Heisman Trophy candidates and the way I I view a dark horse is this you look at those odds and even guys like Dylan Gabriel Carson Beck and Quinn yers have you know plus 1,200 plus a th000 plus 850 so there's still long odds anyway but anything Heisman Trophy candidates above plus 2,000 I view as a dark horse and the one that's below that that jumps out to me more than anything else is Texas A&M quarterback Conor wigman I love Connor Wegman this is a guy who yes he's been injury-prone but he is in a perfect setup to win the Heisman Trophy I'm a voter I look at the Heisman through the lens of this how important are you to a team value so to speak video game statistics just purely statistics what are you doing and is your team are you leading your team into a national championship race or a college football playoff race that's a lot easier to do this year so you're going to get a lot lot more uh options a lot um a lot different names a lot of different schools that could have players put in to that discussion and Texas A&M I think is a perfect sort of team to have that recipe because the recipe for success is hey you know what people want something new voters want something new Texas A&M can provide that spark right they fit into that hey this is different sort of Realm so Connor Wegman has that working for him he has when he's healthy been one of the best quarterbacks in the sport 16 touchdowns two interceptions throughout his career and people forget before he got hurt against Auburn last year he was one of the best quarterbacks in college football through three games you go back and look at it he was one of the most effective quarterbacks in college football now I know folks will say well he's injury-prone really is he is he injury-prone because when he got hurt last year against Auburn I I think anybody in America would have been injured on that play so yes it happened and it sucks but I I kind of view injury prone as I think okay are are you actually just getting hurt because you're you or is it just bad luck and to me for Connor Wegman it was just bad luck last year and that's okay so I don't factor that in but what is interesting for Conor Wegman is that he's got the pieces around him yeah I know Evan Stewart's gone that wide receiving core led by Moose Muhammad loaded they can roll five six seven guys out there and that creates a problem all over the opposing defense Mike Elco understands hey for this season to be successful you have to play to your strengths and the strength is the passing game there's a reason NFL Scouts absolutely love Connor Wegman despite the fact that he he has less than 10 starts under his belt so at plus 3,000 what is it going to take for Conor Wegman to actually be a legitimate Heisman Trophy Contender well A&M needs to be in playoff contention they don't need to be in the SEC in the chance or SEC Championship game they just need to be in playoff contention so there's GNA be what four or five teams in the SEC that are in playoff contention I think a lot of people feel like Texas A&M can be on the sort of periphery of that discussion and so what does that mean the periphery of that discussion means you could be going into the Texas A&M versus Texas game on rivalry weekend and everybody's going to be looking at Conor Wegman because of that game oh other things too but because of that game so what if they win even if they don't go go to Atlanta voters will remember that voters will remember hey that dude won the first Texas Texas A&M game in more than a decade so that matters it's a long shot it's not a no shot by any stretch of the imagination now the second Dark Horse and it's even further down the list that I don't even know if people know this guy all that much and that's Kiren drones at Virginia Tech he didn't really get into the mix till a third of the way through the season last year he played for Virginia Tech and nobody really cared or whatever but he was one of the most dynamic players in the country and nobody seemed to know 17 touchdowns three picks 81 18 on the ground and five touchdowns that was as he's sort of learning on the Fly Right now you have a lot of that production back offensively I think the culture that Brent pry has created in blackburg is one of a champion I say they can do it but it's One Like A Champion it's the same kind of culture you have Georgia Alabama when sa was there that's the kind of buyin that Virginia Tech players have because Kiren drones could have gone to a lot of places believe me he was feeling in he wasn't Fielding calls he was getting calls I don't think he was Fielding that many of them which is again goes back to the culture and again Heisman Trophy voters Cinderella video game numbers where do you lead your team all of those things are together right video game numbers if drones is healthy he's gonna have that value to a team yeah I mean if if if they are successful it's going to be on his back but here's the interesting thing is Virginia Tech a college football playoff team I think the initial reaction that everybody would say like hell no right have you seen that schedule it is absolute cake so if Virginia Tech just gets to the ACC Championship game right they have a chance to not only go to the playoff but get a buy what are due two days after the conference Championship Games Heisman ballots so we could be looking at a situation where this dude is playing in an ACC Championship game which looks a little bit easier now that Florida State already has that loss the schedule sets up well for them to at least contend for that ACC Championship sh game and he could be on the biggest stage in terms of the Heisman at the right time so you're talking about Kiren drones at plus 6,000 I am absolutely willing to put a little money or to put a little sprinkle on that one because if you don't know Kiren drones get to know him because he's going to be one of those unsung Superstars or underrated Superstars under the radar guys that maybe by the middle of the Season you're looking around going okay I see you you know what I also see and this is I mean I'm going deep deep dark horse on this one deep deep deep deep deep dark horse plus 20,000 2020 0000 Plus 20,000 my guy Garrett green at West Virginia now you might see this kid sooner rather than later because they play Penn State and I think they're going to beat Penn State uh in the season opener on Saturday but TW plus 20,000 for a guy who went 16 touchdowns four picks rushed for 772 had 13 touchdowns on the ground and is in a situation now where the offense is stable he understands his players he has a connection with these players that he's worked on all off season and he's with the quarterback coach who we trust a new one who from what I've been told from people in and around the West Virginia program has helped Garrick green pick his game up multiple notches do I think Garrick Green's gonna win the Heisman Trophy probably not is he good enough to get to New York yes and again what happens if West Virginia emerges from the Big 12 in a big 12 championship game what if they go in to Championship Saturday essentially in win and your in mode that could happen because I think West Virginia is the most underrated team in the country and I think the Big 12 is one of the wildest conf conference is the wildest conference in in the country don't sleep on Garrett green plus 20,000 that is that is a deep deep deep dark horse and I'm not here to provide gambling advice I think that's against the law it's going to nudge you in that direction but again it's the Wednesday Thursday morning before the real season kicks off so I got to tell you mine haven't told you mine yet mine is Quinn ERS plus 1200 if you saw my SEC picks if you've seen my college football playoff picks I have Texas in the college football playoff I actually have Texas running the table in the regular season and then losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship game and the five seed in the college football playoff but you're talking about Quinn ERS video game stats obviously the value to his team will be there and I think his team will be the talk of the college football world for pretty much uh the entire season so yeah get to know Quinn URS because I think he is the guy who's going to take things to the top in terms of the race for the most prestigious trophy individual trophy in American Sports hey this show brought to you by game time you know you want 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a set time a set day every single week for now we're going to do it today because tomorrow games do K pick off so Andre on Twitter he is a fan of both Georgia Tech and LSU better year georia Tech or LSU then he also has the caveat could Georgia Tech have a better record and be the better team so I am so high on LSU I don't think first of all let's I love Georgia Tech we had Brent key on this show he told me exactly what was going to happen in Dublin run the dang ball that's exactly what happened he's built that team in His image I love what he's done and the schedule's still difficult right I think it's one thing if a team like or at least a team with a coach who has a a a tradition of History a a record you can look at and say okay that track record is there it's very very possible that Georgia Tech slips up multiple times because they've never been in a position or at least in this generation where they have to sustain success LSU has more national championships than everybody outside of Alabama over the last quarter Century so even though the players change the program Still Remains the Same but I think with Georgia Tech the schedule's still tough and they're probably going to slip up one or two places they also have to play Georgia obviously that's a problem uh LSU the schedule is cake I'm really high on Garrett nus me for LSU fans who ask why didn't you put him in your Heisman this conversation well he's not a dark horse he was I think plus 1600 I think LSU is going to go 10 two and make the college football playoff I said that you can go back and look at it in the college football playoff show also you can see that um tagged or pinned on my X account so I think LS is gonna be better and I think LS is going to have a better record I absolutely love what this offense can do and the reason I say that is sure Jaden Daniels is gone sure Malik neighbors is gone sure the offense is going to be coordinated in a different way it's going to look a different way but that to me is so interesting because LSU's offense in terms of running the football essentially was well we're going to do Jaden and then one or two things here and there I think it was mostly zone now they're going to run all kinds of stuff with that deep stable of running backs they didn't have to do that last year they I think feel like they want to and need to and they can and that's the thing is like with with LSU you're GNA have to as a defense prepare for a completely different team Den Brock's gone but it's more that nus me is going to provide something much different and even though he can't run anywhere close to what Jaden Daniels does it gives LSU the chance to really open up the offense and I think they're gonna do that will Campbell said they're gonna go get a fist fight they're not going to Caesar's Palace they're gonna go get into a fist fight in Las Vegas I think he's right and I think they're going to do that all year and so I think Georgia Tech the record's going to be solid but I do think they slip up in a couple places because again the track record this for Success is Not is not there it's hard to do that it's brck Key's brck ke's very new at this himself now he's seen a coach and Sabin been on staffs where you can sustain success and know how that sort of works but it's different when you're in that big office it's different when you have somebody else answering your phones in that office office so again good season Georgia Tech you know I love you Brent key I know you're you're W I know you watched this show because you came on it but before that you said you liked it pat myself on the back a little bit there um but I love LSU I love LSU all right next question Sam who was on Instagram is Dion showing weakness the Dion Sanders portion of the show yes yes he is Dion has never faced adversity in his life in terms of succeeding on the field of play he's not succeeding and I don't think that he feels his message to transverse has been as widely embraced as he felt it would would be his star power is not as bright with the people and the players who need to be on your roster who need to be on your staff to win national championships so yeah I he's showing weakness you you don't ban people from press conferences for reasons that they have nothing to do with the c CBS local reporter like he had nothing to do with whatever CBS did that pissed Dion off and he even said that in the retor he's like I'm with local CBS not big CBS and Deon said he didn't care well why are you so pissy Dion knows how this stuff works he understands media like he understands the difference between a local guy a national guy a writer a columnist a radio he knows all that stuff can't play dumb and say you don't you're just being a jackass now I know in his contract there's a clause that says he doesn't have to answer questions from anybody else and that's why uh he refuses to um answer questions from Sean keer The Denver Post why does it matter are you that butt hurt that people don't believe that what you're doing is going to lead to on the field success there are a lot of those people outside of the Boulder Colorado Denver media Market a lot don't have a problem talking to them talking about you ESPN Fox probably NBC when they have the Nebraska Colorado game have no issue talking to those people you viewed your local beat guys in a lesser world if you're Dion like that's how he operates he' never tell any of those big networks they can't ask questions but he wants to assert power he still feels like he needs to be big bad on go back to Tim McCarver back in the 1992 World Series or or NLCS whatever it was with the Braves you're a big man Dion you're a big man for those who don't remember that fantastic uh dust up between those two when Deon was with the Braves go look it up um but yeah Dion he doesn't know how to handle it he doesn't know how to handle professional adversity in the sense of what he's doing is not succeeding because even if you lose as a defensive back or you strike out like you still know that hey you're doing this the right way you're still going to be successful not every time but successful I don't I think what you've seen from him shows that he realizes he's not this is not working the way he thought was and speaking of butt hurt he's a little butt hurt because of it it'll be fascinating to see what happens this year because that team is not good and that schedule is brutal we'll take a break we'll talk a little bit about those rule changes and kind of how they're tied together because they are we'll talk about it next it's college football smothered and covered hey the show brought to you by Five Hour Energy gotta gotta tell you I was driving to and from Birmingham today with traffic about five hours you know what got me through that ride home two and a half hour with traffic ride home there a 5 Hour Energy I needed gas stopped at gas station I said you know what I need that I need 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to 5our energy.com today 5our energy.com use promo codeck locked on College and received 20% off your order all right last segment of the show here the rules that came out that are Rule changes not locked that are not locked on un very much intended but are not locked in they'll be voted on in October uh two of them came out it was that the spring transfer portal window is going to be no more and that it would be just the winter one excuse me starting with the last the first Monday I should say uh after Championship weekend the second one is that the blanket waiver that the NCAA has provided ever since covid that doesn't that allows players to play in bowl games and not count that toward therefore game red shirt is now approved again but they made sure they included FCS playoffs bowl games Conference Championship Games college football playoff games so you're talking about a player playing four games in the regular season and then what five more and not burn a red shirt those things are correlated first we're not going to talk about the transfer portal there's no right way to do the transfer portal there will be lawyers whatever they decide they're going to screw it's there's going to be people that are pissed off it's nothing's going to change until things are collectively bargained when it comes to that nothing you can't put toothpaste back in the tube so you already have these two portal Windows players are used to it if you take it away lawyers are going to be like hey bro let's uh let's make some money so we're not going to talk about that part of it but these two are correlated because the blanket waiver that allows players to play in the postseason and not burn a red shirt year uh it makes sense just in the sheer spectrum of hey you're going to have players transfer you need to field rosters it was LSU after coacho got fired they played in the Texas bowl with like two and a half scholarship players I joke but it was more like 39 but still that's not nearly enough so now you can basically load things up but here's the thing remember last year Malik Murphy from Texas entered the transfer portal Texas was still in the college football playoff he entered the transfer portal he ended up at Duke he's going to start for them but he felt like he had to in order to get a jump start on his new career which is perfectly fine there are gonna be a lot more of him a lot more of him both for teams that are in the playoff but also teams that aren't so again it goes back to creating a a way for your roster to still be competitive and keep players from having to play positions that they're not used to I can't remember the LSU quarterback but it was a wide receiver I think play the wide in the CFL now um You don't want that so what essentially this is doing is allowing lower tier bowl games to serve as spring games on steroids it's great it's fine it's perfect and I think moving forward this is not going to be a one-year blanket waiver although I have said that ever since Co oh it's not it's going to be a permanent rule it's going to be a permanent rule well then make it a perfect rule even in October well I guess they're not they don't have to vote on this it's it's a blanket waiver it's already been approved but why are we doing this on a year-by-year basis just make it permanent what's the what's the harm niiko malava for Tennessee used this last year he's still a red shirt freshman he played last year started the bowl game obviously did well Tennessee fans are hyped about him rightfully so but he's still a freshman because of this Rule and that's a good thing because who was going to start that game if you already knew that Joe Milton was gone what was gonna happen so I like it I like it hey thanks very much for uh for watching this edition of college football smothered and covered powered by locked on I I cannot wait Thursday we're going to make some predictions on Thursday night games we're also going to do a Thursday night postcast so we got a lot going on so make sure uh you subscribe share hit that notific ification button all that stuff if you're listening share it with your friends if you're watching subscribe share share all that stuff do everything if you know how to do the podcast thing I think you kind of know how to share podcasts so please do that I would greatly appreciate that hey for your second listen since you're of course this is your first lesson go check out locked on college football from nil deals to never- ending conference reignment rumors Spencer mclin gets you ready for an exciting season on the grid iron you can find the link to locked on college football in the description below so you don't need to search for it part of the lockon college podcast Network your team every day next time we talk folks it'll be game day again the second game day of the 2024 football season have a great one