Michigan State Football: Kenneth Walker III has real chance to win a Heisman Trophy

The Michigan State football team got off to a better Week 1 start than virtually anybody expected. After a rocky Week 1 loss to Rutgers in the 2020 season, many fans were rightfully nervous about this matchup against Northwestern, wary of a repeat early-season performance.

With the Wildcats coming off of a 7-2 season that saw them ranked in the top ten at the end of the season, the idea that Mel Tucker could suffer a bad opening game loss in his second consecutive season seemed even more likely. But that wouldn’t be the case.

Instead, Michigan State walked onto Ryan Field and dominated the Northwestern Wildcats in their own stadium for 60 minutes. “How,” you ask?

Kenneth Walker III.

Michigan State football’s Kenneth Walker III should be considered a Heisman frontrunner

In Week 1, Kenneth Walker III rushed for 264 yards and four touchdowns. The next closest player in either of those categories was DeAndre Torrey of North Texas who, ironically, put up 244 yards and three touchdowns on the ground against Northwestern State.

The closest match to Kenneth Walker’s game from a Power Five opponent would likely be Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim, who rushed for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Ohio State before being knocked out with a season-ending injury.

So if Walker had the most dominant rushing performance in college football by a mile, why isn’t he considered a Heisman candidate?

The answer is simple — he plays for Michigan State.

Imagine for a second that Walker plays for a team like Clemson, Alabama, or Ohio State. Not only would he be considered the Heisman frontrunner, but his name would be impossible to avoid through any media outlets.

Instead, the world is treating Walker as though he didn’t just rush for 264 yards and four touchdowns. Listen to every major college football podcast — he hasn’t earned so much as a mention. Instead, the recognition is moving in the direction of Texas’s Bijan Robinson, who rushed for 103 yards and a single touchdown. You could cut Kenneth Walker III’s stats in half and they’d surpass Robinson’s.

Yet Robinson still won Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week.

This means one of two things, neither of which are pretty. Firstly, the committee that decides the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week may have had no knowledge of Walker’s performance — that’s the best-case scenario. The other, and much more likely scenario, is that the very same committee blatantly ignored Walker’s game because Texas is a more relevant program than Michigan State.

Regardless of media attention, Michigan State Football’s Kenneth Walker III is the national frontrunner to win the Heisman Trophy

Here’s where we get down to the real nitty-gritty.

I don’t care what the media is saying right now and neither should you. Kenneth Walker III has to be considered the current frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. Here’s why.

It’s very unlikely that Walker replicates his 264-yard, four-touchdown performance, but let’s say for a second that he is able to continue his dominant play. For starters, this would likely translate to wins for Michigan State. More importantly, though, this would give the Spartans the best running back in Power Five football.

Walker already has a significant statistical head start, and at some point, the numbers reach a point where they’re undeniable. We won’t hear anybody saying “it’s Northwestern” or “fluke game” because those excuses will no longer have a backbone — not that they did in the first place.

If Walker rushes for close to 2,000 yards and 20+ touchdowns with Michigan State finishing their season at 8-4, it won’t matter if nobody cares about the Spartans. Walker will likely have had the best season of any college football player.

Still, we’re just one game in. It’s definitely way too early to say that he should win the Heisman, but it’s not premature to declare the fact that he should be considered a Heisman frontrunner. Despite the disrespect, Walker has a real shot to win the Heisman Trophy, we just have to wait things out.