Heisman Watch
Written by aquaman88, Tuesday December 08 2009
The 2009 Heisman Trophy award is now done to five finalists: Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford Cardinal; Colt McCoy, QB, Texas Longhorns; Tim Tebow, QB, Florida Gators; Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama; and Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska. Naturally Ndamukong Suh is a bit of a “surprise”, being a defensive player – he’s certainly not a surprise for deserving to be included and possibly win as he’s been beyond dominant this year.
The 2009 Heisman Trophy award is now done to five finalists: Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford Cardinal; Colt McCoy, QB, Texas Longhorns; Tim Tebow, QB, Florida Gators; Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama; and Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska. Naturally Ndamukong Suh is a bit of a “surprise”, being a defensive player – he’s certainly not a surprise for deserving to be included and possibly win as he’s been beyond dominant this year.
The consensus “shocker” is that Clemson RB C.J. Spiller was not included. Other names that have been mentioned as invite worthy for the Heisman ceremony are Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen and Houston QB Case Keenum although I think the committee got it right with the five invitees. Now let’s see if the voting members have the cojones to select Ndamukong Suh as the winner.
Let’s take a look at the five finalists (in alphabetical order) and after reviewing them all I’ll give you my opinion on who should walk away with this year’s Heisman Trophy.
Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford Cardinal
Gerhart has been the most dominant RB in the country all year (except for last week when Alabama’s Mark Ingram said “hey, don’t forget about me”). He’s rushed 311 times for the most yards with 1,736 (a 5.8 yards per carry average) and scored the most rushing TDs with 26, than any other player in the country. He’s single-handedly put Stanford back on the college football map and has his head coach, Jim Harbaugh, getting interest from other schools.
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
As hard as it is to believe, no Alabama player has ever won the Heisman Trophy. Although Alabama alum Joe Namath would like to kiss ESPN correspondent Suzy Kolber…I’m not sure why I brought that up though... Anyway, Ingram has rushed 249 times for 1,542 yards (a 6.2 yards per carry average) and 15 TDs this year. In addition, he’s added 30 catches for 322 yards and 3 TDs. Besides bringing home Alabama’s first ever Heisman, Ingram would be only the second player ever to win the Heisman as a sophomore. The first? Part of his competition this year – Florida QB Tim Tebow.
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas Longhorns
McCoy has sort of been the “golden child” during his collegiate career and could sway a close contest with a sympathy vote for being the runner-up last year. He’s got his Texas Longhorns in the BCS National Championship game this year, which helps him out (but so does Alabama’s RB Mark Ingram). He completed 71 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,512 yards and 27 TDs (but he does have 12 INTs, including 3 in the recent Big 12 Title game that he barely won). And speaking of wins, McCoy has won 45 games in his career, which is the most ever in NCAA history. Throwing is definitely his bread and butter but he also managed to eke out 348 yards and 3 TDs running the ball this year. McCoy led the Big 12 in total yards and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Now he’s looking for the elusive Heisman Trophy followed by the elusive National Championship.
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
Ndamukong Suh. Just his name brings fear to you – afraid you may have to pronounce his first name properly without the aid of phonetics (it’s En-dom-ah-ken Soo). But his play on the field this year also brings fear to lots of people, mainly opposing head coaches, offensive coordinators and QBs. Suh would be just the second defensive player ever to win the Heisman (Michigan CB Charles Woodson won it in 1997) and the first ever interior lineman. In 13 games this year, Suh finished with 82 tackles – 23 of those for a loss, 12 sacks, 10 blocked passes, three blocked kicks and 1 INT. Suh has already won the Bronco Nagurski Trophy as the country’s best defensive player. He was first-team All-Big 12, first-team All-American, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. Oh yeah, and he won the Big 12 Championship Game MVP award, despite his team losing. In addition to being a finalist for the Heisman, he’s also one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Award (Player of the Year), one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy (Best Interior Lineman) and one of four finalists for the Lombardi Award (Best Lineman or Linebacker). And if all this wasn’t enough, he’s generally considered the best all-around prospect and the likely #1 overall draft pick in 2010.
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida Gators
With this invite, Tebow becomes the first player ever to be invited to three Heisman finalist ceremonies and with a win would become just the second player ever to win two Heisman Trophies (Ohio State RB Archie Griffin won back-to-back Heismans in 1974 and 1975). In 2007 when he won the Heisman, Tebow became the first sophomore ever to win it. Last year, despite receiving the most first place votes, he finished third behind Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. This year Tebow completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,413 yards and 18 TDs while also rushing for 859 yards and 13 TDs, for a total offensive contribution of 3,272 yards and 31 TDs. But his previous success has hurt him as the big knock on him this year is he wasn’t as productive as he was over the previous two seasons and that could hurt him in the Heisman voting. Tebow surpassed former Georgia RB Herschel Walker for the most career rushing TDs in SEC history with a total of 56. He has been praised and lauded by former NFL coaches Jon Gruden and Tony Dungy but minimized by ESPN draft “guru” Mel Kiper, Jr. But really, who cares about Mel Kiper anymore? Todd McShay is the now and the future.
OK, on to my prediction for this year’s Heisman Trophy winner. I think Ndamukong Suh should win it but I think Toby Gerhart will win it. And really, I wouldn’t have a problem with any of these finalists winning it this year.
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8 comments
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Greg - Thanks for the love. Obviously, this was the wrong forum to discuss race in professional football. It's always a very sensitive subject, and rightfully so. I've got nothing against Gerhart and I wish him the best as well. In fact, I hope he does win the Heisman so we don't have to read another sermon from Bamababe...jk :) Thanks for putting everything into perspective.
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JNICK, I didn't realize you were a student of the game and a student of Texas Tech. The latter makes you A-OK in my book. In truth, I am not basing my notion that Gerhart will be a success in the NFL on anything other than intuition and good wishes for the guy based on his excellent college performance. And, the odds are long against anyone having a successful career in the NFL, so your guess is statistically more likely. But, I don't think a 2008 ESPN article about another player based on the color of his skin lends much credence to your assumption that Gerhart will fail. Was it ESPN that recently ran the story claiming that white guys were being discriminated against in the NBA? At any rate, I do appreciate the fact that your opinion is grounded in some research. aquaman, I agree. And, my suggestion was simply that having two players from two of the big conferences is likely to split some votes within those conferences and will no doubt factor into the end result. In the end, that should give Gerhart a better chance. Looking forward to the conclusion....
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Whether Gerhart succeeds in the NFL, or whether or not he even gets drafted doesn't really factor into this discussion - there's been too many NFL busts to mention, especially at QB (Ty Detmer), but this is about the best college football player. I do agree though that Gerhart has a long uphill climb to make an NFL team.
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Greg, my prediction on Gerhart is based on numbers. Here's an excerpt from an ESPN article in 2008, about Sam McGuffie (Rice): "In the NFL, white tailbacks are even scarcer. Not one white player starts at tailback on any of the NFL's 32 teams. The last time a white tailback was taken in the first round of the NFL draft was 1974, when the Los Angeles Rams selected Penn State's John Cappelletti with the 11th overall pick." Don't tell me that my predictions aren't based on anything. I'm a student of the game and I break down everything on film and with statistics before I open my mouth. The Wes Welker comparison isn't even close to Gerhart, for the simple fact that there are a number of white receivers that have succeeded in the NFL: Joe Jurevicius, Brandon Stokely, Drew Bennett, Ed McCaffery, and Kevin Curtis to name a few.
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Oh, and aquaman, with two Big 12 and two SEC players as finalists, there might just be enough split votes to get Gerhart a Heisman. Unfortunately, many of the folks with the votes will stay true to their own conferences even when they know someone else is more deserving, at least in numbers. May the truly Best Man win.
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Nolan, I'll agree with that--Tebow and McCoy both had worse years than last, and Tebow couldn't pull his team to a win against Alabama, and McCoy was brutally exposed against a Nebraska team that got spanked by Texas Tech. JNick, that is an interesting prediction based on what? I'll bet you expected Wes Welker to have such great success in the NFL. Who did? That's what heart, integrity, and determination can do for a genuine sportsman--if someone gives Gerhart a chance, I'll bet he finds a way to succeed.
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Mark Ingram is for real. If he stays healthy, he will be one of the next great running backs in the NFL. He's an all-around back with good size, speed, and most importantly, great vision. Gerhart, on the other hand, is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to his prospects at the next level. He lacks the speed and awareness in the passing game to merit a pick in the first 2 rounds of the draft. Don't get me wrong, he's a great college player. His name will just be added to the list of running backs that never translated to the NFL, including the likes of Rashaan Salaam and Ron Dayne.
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I still think that C.J. Spiller got the shaft! I believe he should have been invited over both Tebow and McCoy.