Texas Football: Early dive into Keaontay Ingram’s Heisman chances

An under the radar Heisman candidate for 2019 from the Big 12 could be coming from Texas football with second-year running back Keaontay Ingram.

There are three players for the Texans football program that you could reasonably expect have at least a shot at the Heisman Trophy this year. Those three Texas football Heisman contenders for the award this year are junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger, sophomore running back Keaontay Ingram, and senior wide receiver Collin Johnson.

The least likely of the aforementioned three Heisman contenders for the Texas football program this coming season is Johnson. It’s just so difficult for wide receivers to get among the thick of the Heisman race nowadays. Even running backs have a difficult time making it among the three Heisman finalists year in and year out. The only Heisman winners of late at running back came from the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Injuries would be a concern that is legitimate for Ingram and Ehlinger given their track record in recent years. Ingram and Ehlinger both missed at least some stretch of game time with respective knee and shoulder injuries.

If Ehlinger and Ingram are able to stay healthy and productive through the entire 2019 campaign, they should be capable of garnering All-Big 12 honors at the very least. Last year, Ingram hurt himself early in the regular season starting during the Maryland Terrapins and Tulsa Golden Hurricanes matchups.

Ehlinger originally hurt his shoulder in the narrow October victory over the Baylor Bears at home. Consequentially, Ehlinger then missed half of the matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones and was clearly hurting in the close road victory over the Kansas Jayhawks. But, by the time the Allstate Sugar Bowl came around on New Year’s Day 2019 against the Georgia Bulldogs, Ehlinger’s shoulder looked healed and ready to go.

However, the focus here lies on what Ingram could do if he has a healthy and productive run through this coming season. As a true freshman, Ingram took the reigns of the starting running back duties for all intents and purposes. He did split a lot of the workload with senior running back Tre Watson last year, though.

During his freshman campaign, Ingram averaged more than five yards per carry and amassed over 850 total yards from scrimmage with five touchdowns. Considering his limited workload compared to what he was actually ready for last year, Ingram stood out in a big way.

Since Watson will be off the Forty Acres this season due to a lack of eligibility remaining, the starting job is solely Ingram’s if he’s ready to snag it. The only competition he’ll really have to split carries this fall will be third-year rusher Daniel Young and incoming freshman Derrian Brown.

The reasons that Ingram will be at odds includes the slight chances that running backs win this award in the first place and some hefty competition coming out of the ACC and SEC. With Clemson’s Travis Etienne and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor returning to college football in 2019, Ingram will have some superstars to go toe-to-toe with.

The advantages that he will hold will be the consistency and improvement under Ehlinger and the lack of competition in the backfield for the Texas Longhorns football program. . We could be looking at a year where Ingram ends up with at least 225 touches between the ground and receiving game. Getting over 1,500 total yards from scrimmage with 15 or more touchdowns could get him directly in the Heisman conversation this year.