For the seventh consecutive season, the College Football Researchers Association has crowned a Player of the Year, and this season Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa takes the title by the narrowest of margins. Tua bested runner-up Kyler Murray by just two points in a race where Murray actually garnered more first-place votes than the Alabama quarterback. In five of the past six seasons, the CFRA Player of the Year has gone on to take the Heisman Trophy, with the one exception being Deshaun Watson in 2016 who most likely would have won the Heisman if the poll was conducted after last year’s playoff. The full breakdown of votes is below with the number of first-place votes each player received in parentheses:
1. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (4)– 44 points
2. Kyler Murray (5)– 42 points
3. Dwayne Haskins– 23 points
4. McKenzie Milton, UCF– 16 points
5. Josh Allen, Kentucky– 7 points
6. Gardner Minshew, Washington State– 6 points
7. Will Grier, West Virginia– 4 points
7. Travis Etienne, Clemson– 4 points
9. Ian Book, Notre Dame– 3 points
10. Deebo Samuel, South Carolina– 2 points
10. Quinnen Williams, Alabama– 2 points
10. Anthony McFarland, Maryland– 2 points
10. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin– 2 points
10. Greedy Williams, LSU– 2 points
10. Darrell Henderson, Memphis– 2 points
16. Marquise Brown, Oklahoma– 1 point
16. Jake Fromm, Georgia– 1 point
16. Greg Dortch, Wake Forest– 1 point
16. Karan Higdon, Michigan– 1 point
16. Clelin Ferrell, Clemson– 1 point
The College Football Researchers Association 