Entering my 2017 fantasy football draft I was absolutely sold on the fact that Derrick Henry was going to have a breakout season. As a rookie in 2016, he was in a time-share backfield, but in 2017 he was to take the reigns and put up some gaudy numbers. But, no luck. He put up mediocre numbers just like he did as a rookie.
With this development, I firmly jumped off the Henry bandwagon. I had a few chances to draft him for the 2018 season, but I was deeply entrenched in the mindset of, “Burn me once, shame on you; burn me twice, shame on me.” There was absolutely no way I was going to touch Henry.
So, naturally, after avoiding Henry he finally has his breakout season in 2018 on his way to becoming one of the best fantasy studs over the past five years.
Once again, I got burned!
I bring this up because last June I wrote an article (and a mid-season follow-up) that broached the idea of Bo Nix winning the Heisman Trophy. As with Henry, it turns out I had dove into this a year early, as 2023 is the year in which Nix is firmly in the conversation. For the record, last year, I was not predicting that Nix would win, but that did he possess at least a reasonable chance at being in contention.
Bo Nix is in the running for the Heisman.
Most respondents thought the idea was crazy, as Nix had been extremely mistake-prone and had not really proven anything in his three years at Auburn. But, I felt with the right coaching — and with the offensively challenged Mario Cristobal out the door — that a young and hungry coaching staff led by Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham could get the most out of Nix.
Of course, Nix did not win the Heisman, but as the season progressed his name was being thrown into the mix of potential invitees to the Heisman ceremony. That was until the disastrous loss and injury against those dastardly Washington Huskies.
This now brings us to 2023, where the idea of Nix not being in the Heisman race is a crazy thought. Oregon returned to its high-flying offensive ways in 2022 and has a stellar receiving corps along with a solid stable of running backs. Things are looking good for the Ducks in a suddenly tough Pac-12 Conference. They will need to win the conference, and Oregon looks like they have as good of a chance as anyone.
Candidates cannot control everything that goes into winning the Heisman. They can control the quality of their play but they cannot control the politics, the media, and how the rest of their team will play. Nix is definitely in the mix, here is to him at least achieving an invite to the Big Apple.
Darren Perkins
Spokane, WA
Photo credit: Joe Jackson Jr.
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in the technology industry in SLC, Utah.
Darren Perkins is a sales professional and 1997 Oregon graduate. After finishing school, he escaped the rain and moved to sunny Southern California where he studied screenwriting for two years at UCLA. Darren grew up in Eugene and in 1980, at the tender age of five, he attended his first Oregon football game. His lasting memory from that experience was an enthusiastic Don Essig announcing to the crowd: “Reggie Ogburn, completes a pass to… Reggie Ogburn.” Captivated by such a thrilling play, Darren’s been hooked on Oregon football ever since. Currently living in Spokane, Darren enjoys flaunting his yellow and green superiority complex over friends and family in Cougar country.