As crazy as this might sound, Gunner Stockton has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy. He by no means is the frontrunner right now, but his five touchdown performance last week in Georgia's win over Ole Miss shot him up the Heisman Trophy odds.
Stockton currently has the fourth best odds to win the Heisman according to Vegas oddsmakers, and the three players above him have signficantly better odds. But there is realistic path for him to win this award, but these four things must occur if he is going to become Georgia's third Heisman winner in program history.
1. Georgia must win out
While the Heisman Trophy is an individual award, team success is factored into who is crowned the winner. It's hard to win the award without having a successful season as a team, so for Stockton to have a realistic shot at winning Georgia needs to win the rest of their games.
This includes the SEC Championship game in December, and there is one team and player in particular that he needs to beat in that game.
2. Stockton must out-duel Alabama QB Ty Simpson in SEC Championship game
While winning an SEC Championship against any opponent would look good on Stockton's resume, beating Alabama in the title game would be the best scenario for him. Not only would a win against Alabama, who is the current favorite to win the conference, look really good on paper, but he would be defeating quarterback Ty Simpson in the process.
Simpson already got the better of Stockton earlier this season in Athens, and because of that he currently has better odds to win the Heisman. But a head to head victory in the biggest game of the season should be enough for Stockton to pass Simpson even if Alabama wins every game until then.
3. Two other QBs must stumble
Simpson isn't the only player with better odds to win the Heisman right now. Ohio State QB Julian Sayin and Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza both have significantly better odds right now.
Stockton unfortunately won't get to play either quarterback before the Heisman is awarded, so he will have to rely on them falling back in the odds on their own. Both quarterbacks are playing at an elite level right now, so that is big ask, but all it takes is one bad performance (like Carson Beck had last week) for them to plummet in the Heisman odds.
4. Gunner Stockton must have another Heisman moment
Every player who has ever won the Heisman has had a defining Heisman moment. Think about Cam Newton's Superman touchdown or Johnny Manziel running around like a chicken with his head cut off before making a big throw down the field. Every Heisman winner can point to one play that showed why they deserved this award.
Stockton potentially had a Heisman moment this past weekend against Ole Miss when he threw four touchdowns and ran for one more. His game-sealing touchdown against Auburn the week before where he dove head first into the corner of the end zone could be a decent Heisman moment as well.
But Stockton is yet to have a play that drops everyone's jaws to the floor, and if he is going to win the Heisman he needs to have one of those moments.