3 Best Ohio State Players to Never Win the Heisman Trophy

The Ohio State Buckeyes are among college football's most elite and storied programs, and you don't get a seat at that kind of table without earning it through hard work, brilliant coaching minds, and most importantly: an abundance of talent.

With the kind of athletes and skill sets that have come through Columbus for the better part of the last century, both national championship rings and individual recognitions have followed suit. Yet, even with seven Heisman Trophies to its name, there have been plenty of all-time great Ohio State talents that can still make an argument for Heisman recognition.

Keeping that in mind, here's a look at three of the greatest Ohio State offensive talents that never won college football's most distinguished award for individual achievement.

Best Ohio State Players That Never Won the Heisman

3. Keith Byars, FB (1982-85)

Best Potential Heisman Season: 1984
As far as actual Heisman voting results are concerned, Keith Byars came closer to winning the award than anyone else on this list after finishing as the 1984 Heisman runner-up behind Doug Flutie. In that 1984 season, Byars set Ohio State's then-single-season records for all-purpose yards (2,441) and rushing yards (1,764), adding 22 TDs on the ground as well.

2. Ezekiel Elliott, RB (2014-16)

Best Potential Heisman Season: 2015
To date, Elliott is the only Buckeye who ranks in the program's top-5 career rushing yardage leaders (No. 3, 3,961 yards) without also ranking in the program's top-10 rushing attempt leaders. Elliott left Ohio State with an outstanding career average of 6.7 yards per attempt, but he fell by the wayside in the Heisman voting by the end of both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, in part due to incredibly tough competition at RB in each class. Melvin Gordon was the Heisman runner-up in 2014, and Derrick Henry won the award the following season. Elliott's best season came in 2015, though, when he racked up 2,027 yards from scrimmage and 23 total touchdowns. Despite that Herculean effort, Elliott finished eighth in Heisman voting that season, trailing four other RBs.

1. Dwayne Haskins, QB (2017-18)

Best Potential Heisman Season: 2018
Dwayne Haskins spent only one season as the Buckeyes' starting QB before going on to be the No. 15 overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, but he certainly made the most of that campaign. With just 14 games started to his name, Haskins not only smashed Ohio State's single-season passing yardage record by more than 1,500 yards (4,381 yards) and TD record by 15 (50 TDs), he set the same all-time records for any player in Big Ten history. Haskins also ranks first (499 yards), second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh for the most single-game passing yards in Ohio State history. Unfortunately for Haskins, though, he suffered from what may have been the single toughest Heisman class in the award's existence – and that's no understatement. Despite this laundry list of accolades in 2018, Haskins finished third in the final Heisman voting results behind 2018's winner QB Kyler Murray and runner-up QB Tua Tagovailoa. In fact, Haskins' 50 touchdowns are tied for the fifth-best single-season mark in NCAA history. But facing the passer with the best career QB rating (206.9) in NCAA history (Tagovailoa), and an improved version of 2017's Heisman winner (Baker Mayfield) in Murray, smothered any shot Haskins may have had.

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David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.