Ohio State’s Heisman “bold prediction” theme points to an Eddie George-style path, but keeps the pick unnamed in early reporting

Ohio State is preparing to open preseason camp, and a new preseason feature from Yahoo Sports is using the moment to make an unusually specific kind of argument about Heisman Trophy odds. Rather than centering the prediction on Ohio State stars with familiar surnames, the piece builds its case around a different player type, saying the next Buckeye to win college football’s most recognized individual award will have more in common with Eddie George than Troy Smith.

The comparison is more than branding. Eddie George won the Heisman Trophy in 1995 as a workhorse running back who combined physicality with consistent production, a profile often associated with a season where a player is the team’s unquestioned offensive center of gravity. Troy Smith’s Heisman win in 2009 came from a quarterback’s dual-threat value, a different way of capturing attention and national narrative. By framing the prediction as “George-like,” the article is effectively indicating that the breakthrough storyline it expects may be grounded in the kind of steady, all-phase offensive impact voters tend to reward.

Yahoo Sports situates the idea inside an off-season “theme week” series tied to Land-Grant Holy Land. In that format, the publication is not merely recapping prospects, it is explicitly selecting a narrative for what would make a Heisman case feel plausible inside Ohio State’s current ecosystem. The piece positions its prediction as “bold,” suggesting it may run counter to the most obvious preseason assumptions.

What matters most for Ohio State fans, and what the prediction is really trying to tee up, is the question of which player becomes the most legible star early. Heisman campaigns in major conferences often depend on a clear visual identity for voters: a defined role, a recognizable weekly highlight, and a consistent arc from early-season expectations to late-season results. The George-versus-Smith framing is a reminder that not every Heisman-winning pathway is quarterback-driven, and that voters have historically been open to a running-back or offensive centerpiece if the season story is coherent.

The most concrete detail publicly visible from the early report is the constraint that the Heisman pick is not the Ohio State players with the surnames “Smith” or “Sayin.” That means the feature is steering away from two commonly discussed Buckeye names, at least in the way preseason talk usually focuses. Beyond that, the exact identity of the player is not confirmed in the limited preview available here, so it would be premature to treat this as an actionable guess about a specific athlete without additional context.

Even with that caveat, the story still functions as a practical offseason framework. It encourages viewers to watch preseason camp and early fall positioning for candidates who can define the offense in a way that resembles the “offensive engine” model associated with Eddie George. If camp usage and role clarity quickly separate one player from the rest of the group, it would align with the idea that the next Heisman run, if it happens, will not be built on a single splash moment but on a sustained, central function for the Buckeyes.

If additional reporting later clarifies which player the feature is naming, the next question will be whether Ohio State’s offensive priorities and scheduling create the kind of national exposure a Heisman storyline needs. For now, the safest takeaway is the direction of the argument: the “next Ohio State Heisman winner” in this preseason thought experiment is expected to come from a George-style archetype, and it is being presented as a deliberate challenge to the default expectations of how the award “should” look coming from Columbus.