Mayfield already brought home some hardware . . . Baker Mayfield Wins Burlsworth Trophy for the Second Time •December 5, 2016 Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has been named the recipient of the Burlsworth Trophy for the second time in as many years. Mayfield is the first two-time winner in the award’s history. Mayfield was up against Northwestern receiver Austin Carr and Washington State quarterback Luke Falk for the award, which is given annually to the most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. He currenly leads the nation with an efficiency rating of 197.8, ahead of the current all-time record is 191.8. The award is named in honor of Brandon Burlsworth, a former walk-on offensive lineman at Arkansas who was killed in a car accident not long after being drafted 63rd overall by the Indianapolis
I don't buy the "split vote" theory. The vote would get split among candidates regardless of whether they are on the same team or not.
The possibility of one of them walking away with it seems good. Based on last year Baker finished fourth and was not invited to NY. We shall see...
Baker has the best chance, IMO. They just don't hand it out to WRs - I could see Dede getting alot of 2nd place votes. The problem is that Jackson got all the press all year before slumping in the last month. Another problem is that Clemson made the CFP (and is on the east coast), even though he had a turnover problem this year. I say just enjoy the fact that 2 OU players get to attend in person.
They're going to finish 4th and 5th...bank on it...the media is still up in Louisville's and Clemson's jocks pumping those two players to win it.
Votes are already in, thus the invites to NYC. What Jackson was doing on the field didn't require any media hype to appreciate - but then he slumped the last few games. Voters may have already submitted ballots before that happened in a few cases. Clemson made the CFP 2 years in a row lead by Watson even though he had a turnover problem this year. OU and Mayfield came on late - probably too late. McCaffrey came on late as well and didn't even get an invite, so that doesn't bode well for Baker. Westbrook was all over the media in plenty of time, but I just don't see a WR winning. I figure it will be Jackson or perhaps Watson in a mild upset. An interesting item to me is where Peppers finishes. His whole "campaign" was fabricated by Harbaugh and it worked well enough to get an invite. I know he's a great player, but I would put USC's Adoree Jackson ahead of Peppers as an impact DB with ball skills, but he didn't have a campaign, I guess.
The outcome was no surprise. I wish there were a head-to-head matchup between either Michigan or Oklahoma with Louisville during bowl season so we could compare the stat line.
