Why Georgia’s Swift, Fromm are legitimate Heisman candidates

The University of Georgia has four players listed among Athlon's early top 50 college football players for the 2019 season. Here are the players and their ranking.

The Georgia football offense is loaded for 2019, from its experienced and vaunted front line, to a third-year starting quarterback in Jake Fromm and returning 1,000-yard rusher in D’Andre Swift.

Sports illustrated is the latest to take note, listing Fromm and Swift among the Heisman Trophy favorites entering the 2019 season.

Fromm was listed among four “Elite Quarterbacks on Elite Teams” along with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts.

Swift, meanwhile, was in the “Workhouse Running Backs” group with 20 other backs.

Fromm and Swift have been among the Heisman Trophy favorites throughout the offseason, with BetOnline.Ag installing them at 12-to-1 back in January.

BetOnline.com kept Fromm and Swift’s Heisman Trophy odds at 12-to-1 in February, too.

It appears spring drills did nothing to remove Fromm and Swift from the frontrunners for the award.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart sounds ready to give new offensive coordinator James Coley some latitude to open up the offense this season.

"People think balance means 50-50, (and) balance is not 50-50," Smart said this spring.

“Balance is being able to run the ball when you have to run the ball and being able to throw the ball when you have to throw the ball. So can you do both? Yes, you can be successful at both.

“That might be 70-30 one game and then 30-70 the other way the next game.”