Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard makes 'outside the box' national title pick, talks Michigan quarterbacks

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The 2022 college football season gets into full swing this weekend and all anyone could talk about is whether Georgia can defend its national championship or if Alabama can get back on top.

Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard went a different route when he chose Texas A&M and the Jimbo Fisher-led Aggies to win the national title this year. If that holds true, it will be the school’s first football national championship since 1939.

"It’s so easy to just follow Alabama, follow Georgia, you know, the traditional teams that have been pretty good. But sometimes you got to think outside the box and really do your homework and look at teams who people aren’t paying attention to," Howard told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

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Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher during the spring game at Kyle Field on April 24, 2021, in College Station, Texas. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

He pointed to last year when Michigan was predicted to finish fourth in the Big Ten East Division and ended up making the College Football Playoff, while Cincinnati – which isn’t part of the heralded Power 5 conferences – made the playoff after an undefeated regular season.

"I think A&M," the current ESPN analyst said of who he thinks could win the national championship. "I think they got the mentality to go in there and tussle with Alabama. If you paid attention during the offseason, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher – things got a little nuclear with those two because Nick Saban said what he said about Jimbo Fisher’s recruiting, which only tells you the comment was made because he’s been stacking top recruiting classes year after year after year. At some point, it’s going to pay off big dividends for the Aggies. Why not this season?"

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Howard noted the ACC was "wide open" given the uncertainty around a once-dominant Clemson team.

Michigan's Desmond Howard on the field against Notre Dame in Ann Arbor. (John Biever/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

"And you gotta look at the ACC. Clemson was the crown jewel of the ACC for about 8-10 years. Dabo (Swinney) was on a crazy run. But last year, they didn’t look like the same Clemson Tigers. And this year, they come into the season without both coordinators. Longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venables, he went to Oklahoma to become the head coach there. And then Tony Elliott, another longtime coach who was the offensive coordinator, he took the head coaching job at UVA.

"So now, you come into the season without two of your generals, two of those guys you’ve gone to battle with for a long time and they’re no longer with you. So, I think Pitt, who won the ACC a year ago, they got Kedon Slovis, who played for USC, at quarterback. I think he’s a really capable quarterback. Losing Kenny Pickett is a big loss but getting Slovis is big. I think the ACC is wide open.

"So, those are the picks I made to think outside the box. I hope they’ll all make sense when it’s all said and done when some of these teams are in the College Football Playoff."

Michigan, Howard’s alma mater, is going to be in the conversation to contend for a playoff spot as well. But with two very capable quarterbacks in Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has yet to decide who will be the consistent starter.

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Cade McNamara of the Wolverines walks to the sideline during the spring game on April 2, 2022, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Jaime Crawford/Getty Images)

"One thing you got to take into consideration is the uniqueness of the situation and then I think it’ll make sense why he’s going the route he’s going onto the scene," Howard explained to Fox News Digital. "You got two outstanding quarterbacks. Both played last year. Cade McNamara started 14 games last season, took Michigan to the College Football Playoff. They won the Big Ten and beat Ohio State. J.J. McCarthy played 11 games. He didn’t come in there for mop-up duty. When J.J. came in the game, the game was still hanging in the balance. They put him in there because he was a helluva quarterback and they trust his skills, trust him as a quarterback.

"This is a very unique situation and because it’s such a unique situation, it must be handled that way. Based on what they’ve seen in camp, practices … this is the best way to try and evaluate talent. And I don’t care what anybody tells you, the best way to evaluate talent is in a game – not a game-like situation that you create in practice. An actual game. So, he’s gonna play these guys as starters in an actual game, which at that point the bullets are live, everything is real. You can judge what you see based on actual, real competition. When you look at it that way, it kind of makes perfect sense."

Ahead of the official kickoff to college football, Howard teamed up with Town House to launch their new gameday product – Town House Game Day Dippers. Fans can also enter a contest through Town House in which they could win $10,000 toward a fan cave makeover.

Howard told Fox News Digital he hoped fans can elevate their dips as well to go along with the snack. One of the gameday dips he is privy to was the Homemade Halftime Hummus.

Desmond Howard with Town House Game Day Dippers. (Town House)

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"I’m a big fan of hummus. It’s one of my favorite snacks," he said. "We’ve partnered up, this is my go-to snack and they made a great dipping cracker."