Top 10 Heisman Trophy candidates for 2018

There's not much debate about who deserves to win the 2017 Heisman Trophy, which will be awarded on Saturday night. Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield cranked up his game this year despite losing his top WR (Dede Westbrook) and two highly talented RBs (Samaje Perine, Joe Mixon) to the NFL. The Sooners' Big 12 title win locked up a CFB Playoff berth, as well as a Heisman for their QB.

The race for next year's Heisman is already underway. Players that performed well late this season planted an earworm in the minds of the Heisman voters, giving them some momentum for next season.

Here are my picks for the top 10 2018 Heisman Trophy candidates. I'm taking several players out of the equation because it's unclear if they'll return to school or apply for early entry into the 2018 draft. For example, USC's Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones would be in the mix for CFB's top individual honor if they return to lead the Trojans next fall, but they haven't stated their intentions for 2018.