Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia may not be viewed as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but he certainly thinks he should be.
Pavia made a bold claim in an appearance on “Hot Mic w/ Hutton & Withrow,” claiming that both the stats and the tape show that he is the best player in college football.
“Well, the Heisman Trophy winner goes to the best player in college football,” Pavia said, via Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports. “I believe that to be myself, you check the numbers and especially — there’s two things that don’t lie to you: Numbers and tape. I’ve been taught that since I was young, you go check that out. I feel like I’m undoubtedly the best player in college football.”
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin are viewed as being the two biggest favorites to win the award. Pavia does have more passing yards than each of them do, though they have also thrown more touchdown passes and fewer interceptions than the Vanderbilt quarterback has. Pavia also has the lowest completion percentage of the three, though his still sits at 71.8 percent.
Pavia does have a chance to be invited to the ceremony in New York, but his brashness and self-belief is unlikely to translate to more votes. There are probably some in the media that might not want to see him win for reasons that are not entirely his fault.
