Heisman 2011

One of my favorite sporting awards is the Heisman trophy.  There are thousands of potential winners and there is very rarely a sure-fire winner.  Campaigns are ran to try and get certain players to win and former winners get a vote.  In no other sport does an MVP type of award have so much politicking and debate surrounding it.  This will be my first blog in which I submit my Heisman vote that does not count.  Just like the actual vote, my vote will rank three players of the five finalists.

HONORABLE MENTION:  Although not finalists, Kellen Moore(QB, Boise State) and Case Keenum (QB, Houston) would be excellent choices for the Heisman.  Unfortunately college football always favors the big boys and TD/Int ratios of 41/7 (Moore) and 45/5 (Keenum, who also threw for over 5k yards) are afterthoughts compared to the revenue the school a player plays for produces.

I guess I am done bitching about that for the day, on to the list:

The finalists are Robert Griffin III QB Baylor, Andrew Luck QB Stanford, Trent Richardson RB Alabama, Montee Ball RB Wisconsin and Tyrann Mathieu DB/PR LSU

And my choices...
3.  Trent Richardson RB Alabama

Alabama's Trent Richardson had a season for the ages.  Opposing teams knew he was Alabama's main weapon on offense and still failed to slow him down, much less stop him.  Trent ran for 1583 yards and 20 TDs with the opponent's stacking the box against him.  It is for this reason that I place him above the other RB Montee Ball.  Ball's numbers may be flashier than Richardson's but he had a lot more open up for him due to the phenomenal play of his teammate QB Russ Wilson.  It should be noted that Richardson's numbers are VERY similar to his former teammate Mark Ingram's, who took home the Heisman two years ago.  He also wins the unofficial award for "Heisman candidate I would least like to make mad"



2.  Andrew Luck QB Stanford

If you have been watching ESPN this past season, you may think Andrew Luck is already a hall of fame NFL quarterback.  Many got too caught up in projecting him to the NFL and missed his amazing college season.  Playing QB for an other-wise average Stanford team, Luck was one win away from being in the national championship game, which he returned this season to try and accomplish.  Luck threw for over 3000 yards and 35 TDs to just 9 INT.  Luck was without a doubt the catalyst to his team's success and deserves a lion share of the credit for their BCS bowl appearance.  I haven't been able to figure out if girls think he is cute.

1.  Robert Griffin III

If I had a Heisman vote (I don't, sorry), I would undoubtedly have RG3 at the top.  His passing numbers(3998 yds, 36-6 TD-INT) exceed Luck's in every aspect and he added 9 TDs on the ground.  He did all this while playing for a Baylor team that lacks overall talent along the lines of Stanford.  The Heisman shouldn't be based on who will be the best professional player and it should not be an SEC player of the year award.  Robert Griffin III is the real deal and I believe he is the most deserving Heisman candidate since Tim Tebow.  Now if I could just figure out why he has that RG3 nickname...