Heisman Trophy favorites for 2010

[Jacie]

The trinity of Bradford, McCoy and Tebow have moved on. Last year's winner, Alabama RB Mark Ingram returns but who will win it this year?

At least 9 different QB's and 8 RB's (including Ingram) are in the mix based on 2009 results.

Quarterbacks
Andy Dalton, sr. TCU
Blaine Gabbert, jr. Missouri
Jacory Harris, jr. Miami
Case Keenum, sr. Houston
Jake Locker, sr. Washington
Andrew Luck, so. Stanford
Ryan Mallett, jr. Arkansas
Kellen Moore, jr. Boise State

Running Backs
John Clay, jr. Wisconsin
Noel Divine, sr. West Virginia
Mark Ingram, jr. Alabama
LaMichael James, so. Oregon
Dion Lewis, so. Pitt
Jaquizz Rogers, jr. Oregon State
Evan Royster, sr. Penn State
Ryan Williams, so. Virginia Tech
Terrell Pryor, jr. Ohio State

Prevailing wisdom used to say eliminate the sophs but that taboo has been broken so the 4 included here are legitimate candidates.

Lately, the trend is to select a player from a team at least contending for the National Championship, which should eliminate about half of these guys. I am thinking the teams of Gabbert, Keenum, Luck, Locker, Lewis and Rogers are not playing for the title.

Though there is no real reason not to, for a player to repeat he must have a better second season and be statistically ahead of everyone else, so Ingram can have a nice run and be invited to New York but no real shot at winning again unless he has an insane year, say 2000+ yards rushing . . .

Players not listed here can crash the party as Keenum did last year when he threw out those TTech-like passing stats.

Wide receivers and defensive players can also get invited to NY but have to have record-setting stats for serious consideration.

Any discussion is likely to center on reasons against a particular player and why a Sooner is much more likely to out perform him.

[JLEW1818]

Terrelle Pryor

[Leroy Lizard]

Jacory Harris?

What a terrible field.

[OU_Sooners75]

So it is only a RB and QB award now?

[JLEW1818]

pretty much, only like 6 Heisman have not been a QB or RB, in history

[OU_Sooners75]

pretty much, only like 6 Heisman have not been a QB or RB, in history

That still does not make it a RB and QB award exclusively.

It is suppose to be the most outstanding player award....however the last 15-20 years it has been the best offensive player on one of the top 5 teams award.

[JLEW1818]

agree

[icmwhOU72]

I am sure that matt barkley will get his fair share of hype from the talking heads. I would not count out jake locker. I wouldnt be surprised if jarrod johnson and jeff fuller get a little attention. AJ green and julio jones should also have some preseason hype. What about ryan broyles? I think he is a dark horse/long shot but heck he could have the best numbers of any wr and if ou plays itself into the big 12 title game and he has 20 tds recieving 1200 yds and a couple return tds then he could win it. He might even lead the country in all purpose yards. That would give the oklahoma city are two heisman winners in three years that would be cool.

[olevetonahill]

Landry Jones

[JLEW1818]

with a good oline

[BoulderSooner79]

yep, if the oline improves, Jones could start putting up some numbers.

[yermom]

i'm hoping for some chemistry with the WRs building in the offseason too

[ratherthanlater]

Terrelle Pryor

It's sad to say but this man is probably right. They probably go undefeated and head to the NCG after he wins. Then they get embarrassed by us or Alabama.

[Eielson]

Terrelle Pryor

That's who I've picked.

[okienole3]

Ryan Broyles

[Salt City Sooner]

Considering the SECSPN hype machine (among other factors), I think Mallet at least gets an invite. He's now firmly established in a very QB-friendly system, & their schedule is quite favorable, to the tune of 4 uber-cushy defenses to face in their OOC (A&M in Arlington, UTEP, Tennessee Tech, & La. Monroe all @ home), they get both Bama & LSU @ home, & there's no Florida on there either. Their roadies are South Carolina, Auburn (neither of whom I've seen ranked in any pre-season poll to this point), & Georgia (ranked in the 20's, usually about 5 spots behind the 'hogs). Their only other roadie is in Starkville against the Bulldogs.

[soonerinabilene]

if he plays like he did last year and boise stays top 3 all year, kellen moore should be a lock. dude was unbelievable last year and hardly got noticed.

[Eielson]

if he plays like he did last year and boise stays top 3 all year, kellen moore should be a lock. dude was unbelievable last year and hardly got noticed.

He looked like garbage to me for most of the Fiesta Bowl.

[OK2U]

OUr backfield is probably too deep for Demarco to get enough snaps to be in contention, even if he is finally healthy.
But who knows, if the O-line gels and he racks up a sh*t-ton of all-purpose yards, he might have a special year.
thoughts?

[Tigeman]

Don't be suprised to see Cam Newton of Auburn snag some talk in his first year back to D1

[soonerinabilene]

He looked like garbage to me for most of the Fiesta Bowl.

most peoe do against the tcu d. im too lazy to look it up, but his td/int ratio was something like 38-5. he does that again and they run the regular season undefeated, he will be in new york.

[yankee]

He looked like garbage to me for most of the Fiesta Bowl.

mark ingram looked like garbage against auburn, therefore he was not worthy of the heisman trophy...at least according to your logic.

[yankee]

and with all the pre-season hype the terrell pryor is getting for the heisman because of his rose bowl performance, i'm going to go out on a limb and say he underachieves this season and is soon forgotten in the minds of the heisman voters.

i think mark ingram has just as good of a chance to win as anybody, especially if mcelroy continues to develop as a QB. other guys i'd look out for are christian ponder (fsu qb), nick foles ('zona qb), greg mcelroy (bama qb), and john clay (rb wisky).

[Eielson]

mark ingram looked like garbage against auburn, therefore he was not worthy of the heisman trophy...at least according to your logic.

Well, yeah, I think everybody knows Ingram didn't deserve the Heisman. That was Suh's trophy.

[Eielson]

and with all the pre-season hype the terrell pryor is getting for the heisman because of his rose bowl performance, i'm going to go out on a limb and say he underachieves this season and is soon forgotten in the minds of the heisman voters.

Am I reading this wrong, or are you saying that Pryor won't play as well as he should because people expect him to have a great season?

[oudavid1]

Jerrod Johnson - Texas A&M

[pappy]

of that list I'd go with kellen moore

[JLEW1818]

Colt McCoy's win record won't last much longer... I'll say that

[OK2U]

Colt McCoy's win record won't last much longer... I'll say that
Who's going to break it?
The BSU kid?

[JLEW1818]

yep


he is 26-1 right now. going into his Junior year

Colt McCoy holds the Record at 45 wins

[yankee]

Am I reading this wrong, or are you saying that Pryor won't play as well as he should because people expect him to have a great season?

yes, you are reading it wrong.

to clarify...he's getting much love from the press, so the majority of people are going to think he's going to put up all-star numbers and dazzle everyone. i say, especially operating in the sweater vest offense, he doesn't wow everybody like expected. i think he'll have his best season to date, but pedestrian numbers as far as heisman talk is concerned.

[yankee]

Well, yeah, I think everybody knows Ingram didn't deserve the Heisman. That was Suh's trophy.

if it wasn't for the texass game, suh wouldn't have even been in new york.


btw, i thought everybody there (minus tebow) had just as good of a chance to win it, and they all were "worthy" in an otherwise crappy heisman year.

[JLEW1818]

hell, in my opinion, and according to the media's, he was suppose to have badass stats the last 2 years.

I think he dominated the Big 10 this season, w/e that is worth/means

[JLEW1818]

i mean lets look at it for a moment, why not Tebow? b/c he lost to the national champions??

that is basically like saying Suh was only their b/c of one game, as u said.

is it fair to say, if Florida beat Bama, Tebow would have won the Heisman?

[gaylordfan1]

If Moore beats V-Tech and with big numbers for the day he will be at the top for the trophy.

[goingoneight]

Bryan Royals

[No1Better]

Andy Dalton could win it, but I'm a Katy Tiger and biased that way.

[badger]

Heisman preseason favs, lol. Suh and Ingram are loling too.:)

Seriously, if your team wins a lot and you're a big part of that winning, you're a contender, regardless of what position you play. If you have one of those signature moments and a feel-good can't-miss story to go with it, you've already got an invite to New York awaitin'

[Mississippi Sooner]

Heisman preseason favs, lol. Suh and Ingram are loling too.:)

Seriously, if your team wins a lot and you're a big part of that winning, you're a contender, regardless of what position you play. If you have one of those signature moments and a feel-good can't-miss story to go with it, you've already got an invite to New York awaitin'

Bingo, bango, bongo.

[G8trGr8t]

John Brantley

[JLEW1818]

i bet some of u tators are saying he "has the chance to be better than tebow"

[Eielson]

if it wasn't for the texass game, suh wouldn't have even been in new york.

So? Does that make him any less of a player? It's not his fault that so many people were so clueless before that night.

[yankee]

So? Does that make him any less of a player?

nope. but the heisman isn't soley based off of talent, it's also based off of on-field results. suh put up impressive numbers and was a force to be reckoned with...but worthy enough to be new york bound pre-texas game? well, i don't know about that. like i said, i felt that just about anyone in NY was worthy in my mind...and it's not a travesty at all that mark ingram won.

[G8trGr8t]

i bet some of u tators are saying he "has the chance to be better than tebow"

With respect to making the reads and throwing the ball, he is already better than Tebow. Leadership and command of the game still remains to be seen. Remember that Brantley was the national Gatorade player of the year in HS and he has had three years as an understudy to get ready. Don't expect to see him run like Tebow but hopefully he won't need to. We got a kid named Trey Burton that has Tebow's power but much, much faster to run wildcat stuff. He is an EE and has been pretty impressive in the spring running the ball from the QB slot.

The wr corp this year is head and shoulders above last year. Our wr coach last year (now at LSU) mailed it in but we got a good one now and he has a ton of talent to work with. The offense this year will be more like what you saw vs Ohio State but with more playmakers. Less of a true spread, more of a mix between a west coast and a spread.

Heck, we even got two fullbacks this year and have been running the ball out of the I. Chris Rainey has been moved to the slot wr position and although he isn't Percy Harvin, he isn't far behind when operating in space. Still can't figure out why he wasn't put there last year.

Watch the Bama game to judge for yourself. Oct 2. We have USF at home and Tennessee away before then but the Bama game at their place will be the real test to see what kind of team we got.

[goingoneight]

The only thing holding Brantley back from being better than Tebow, provided he takes care of business is Tebow played on outstanding teams. If the Gator D's growing pains and new DC pains cost them 4 or 5 games ala 2007, JB will have to be a superstar to get any love from the fans in comparison to Tebow.

Back on track... who here thinks Brody Eldridge with a sixth year could make it to New York as OUr new placekicker? :D

[Eielson]

nope. but the heisman isn't soley based off of talent, it's also based off of on-field results. suh put up impressive numbers and was a force to be reckoned with...but worthy enough to be new york bound pre-texas game? well, i don't know about that.

Seriously? Suh put up comparable stats to Florida, Texas, and Alabama's ENTIRE defensive line. His on-field results were more impressive than any other player's in the country. I'm not sure what your thought process is, but I'm glad you don't decide who goes to New York.

[Eielson]

With respect to making the reads and throwing the ball, he is already better than Tebow.

Not saying much...

[...sooner]

i pick.. ME!

[yankee]

Seriously? Suh put up comparable stats to Florida, Texas, and Alabama's ENTIRE defensive line. His on-field results were more impressive than any other player's in the country. I'm not sure what your thought process is, but I'm glad you don't decide who goes to New York.

we'll just have to agree to disagree. to say his on-field results were more impressive than every other player in the country, appears to be outlandish, but whatever.

[sooner59]

I know this dude probably won't be in the running this year, but watch out if he is doing stuff like this down the road. USC RB Dillon Baxter (true freshmen):

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Video-Dillon-Baxter-breaks-ankles-drops-jaws-a?urn=ncaaf%252C233725

[Since71ASooner4Life]

Ryan Broyles

could put up some insane numbers catching and returning

[Since71ASooner4Life]

Terrelle Pryor

dont know if he'll have the supporting cast around him, but individually should dominate like Vince Gump a few years ago

[Salt City Sooner]

2 things are going to have to happen for that to occur:

1. Pryor's going to have to improve because right now he's nowhere near where VY was from a passing ability standpoint in '05. I was a big skeptic of his back then, but he more than proved me wrong.

2. Tressel's going to have to loosen things up & not be so conservative on offense, & I'd almost fall over dead from shock if that happened. Playing things close & pulling away at the end has been his M.O ever since he arrived.

[Eielson]

we'll just have to agree to disagree. to say his on-field results were more impressive than every other player in the country, appears to be outlandish, but whatever.

Suh
Tackles:82
Sacks:12
TFL:23
INT:1

Alabama D-line
Tackles:98
Sacks:10
TFL:23.5
INT:0

[OK2LA]

I'll take Evan Royster PSU beats OSU this year.

[yankee]

Suh
Tackles:82
Sacks:12
TFL:23
INT:1

Alabama D-line
Tackles:98
Sacks:10
TFL:23.5
INT:0

and like i said...if it weren't for the texas game, he never would have been conisdered. more than 1/3 of his entire sack total came from the one game, and nearly 1/3 of his TFL came in the texas game too. dude was """"only"""" going to be an all-american till that game...

[CincySooner]

heh... Terrell Pryor in the running back list. Made me chuckle a little.

[Eielson]

and like i said...if it weren't for the texas game, he never would have been conisdered. more than 1/3 of his entire sack total came from the one game, and nearly 1/3 of his TFL came in the texas game too. dude was """"only"""" going to be an all-american till that game...

If you take out a player's best game, it's always going to make them look worse. It makes no sense to do it, though. You might as well just take away all the other 70 plays where he made tackles, and then then he'd statistically look terrible.

Stepping up in a big game like the Big XII Championship just means he deserves more credit. I'm completely puzzled at why we should disregard this game when thinking of how good he is. We should put MORE emphasis on this game. Also, this game was before the Heisman vote.