Heisman Trophy Poll

[WSUCougar]

I listed them in order of how I rank them.

[TroyF]

I give it to Fitzgerald. If I were to give it to a QB, it would go to Manning. Put him on the OU offense and they play just as well as Jason White. I'm not sure the same thing can be said the other way. That's not a dis on White, who had a terrific year.

[Calis]

Darren Sproles wasn't listed, add that to the fact there was no trout option, I have to vote for none.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by Calis
Darren Sproles wasn't listed, add that to the fact there was no trout option, I have to vote for none.

Just went with the four finalists. The list of who was NOT a finalist is a whole different debate.

Curiously, the trout was not one of them...

[vex]

No, the trout definitely got in.

[scooper]

Granted he played weak competition, but Ben Roethlisberger may be a better football player than any of them.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by TroyF
I give it to Fitzgerald. If I were to give it to a QB, it would go to Manning. Put him on the OU offense and they play just as well as Jason White. I'm not sure the same thing can be said the other way. That's not a dis on White, who had a terrific year.

Change his name to Eli Cowperwood and I doubt he'd even get a whiff of the Heisman. In truth, he is a very good college quarterback but his bloodline gives him a leg up on others who may be more deserving. Roethlisberger is one, perhaps Philip Rivers, or even Rod Rutherford. The best quarterback I saw all year was Matt Leinart.

[Huckleberry]

It can't be Jason White because Mel Kiper and NFL scouts determine who should win college awards.

Seriously, OU folks are telling their donors that White will win it by about 10% over Fitzgerald. How accurate that is, I have no idea.

[The Afoci]

Originally posted by Huckleberry
It can't be Jason White because Mel Kiper and NFL scouts determine who should win college awards.

Of course most major teams have 4 or 5 QB's better than him as well.

[Scarecrow]

I'm voting for the player that led the nation in both rushing and all-pourpose yards.


Too bad he's not on your list.

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Scarecrow
I'm voting for the player that led the nation in both rushing and all-pourpose yards.


Too bad he's not on your list.

Well, he's not a finalist, so good luck.

[Huckleberry]

Actually, I think it's possible (but incredibly unlikely) that a player can win the Heisman without being a finalist.

I believe they select the finalists based on early returns. Statistically speaking, it would be near impossible for a non-"finalist" to get enough of the late votes to win. But not completely impossible.

At least that's how I heard it worked a long time ago. Could have changed.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
Change his name to Eli Cowperwood and I doubt he'd even get a whiff of the Heisman. In truth, he is a very good college quarterback but his bloodline gives him a leg up on others who may be more deserving. Roethlisberger is one, perhaps Philip Rivers, or even Rod Rutherford. The best quarterback I saw all year was Matt Leinart.

Well, Manning did lead Ole Miss to their best season in ages, so it's not like he's done nothing. I think the hype of the last few years has helped him, and you can debate whether that is because of his last name.

Still, how amazing is it that Archie, Peyton, and Eli were all Heisman finalists? What amazing bloodlines. Maybe it's not too late to put Archie out to stud....

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
Well, Manning did lead Ole Miss to their best season in ages, so it's not like he's done nothing. I think the hype of the last few years has helped him, and you can debate whether that is because of his last name.

I hear what you are saying, but without the Manning mantle he is another Rivers or Rutherford, IMO.

And yeah, that's some pretty talented QB blood alright.

[rexallllsc]

Has ESPN ever hyped a player as much as Larry Fitzgerald?

Man, he really tore up Miami! lol.

[rkmsuf]

Manning may be the better pro prospect but clearly White had the best year as a college player.

The only other case you can make is Fitzgerald but receivers generally don't win unless they make highlight plays. Tim Brown and Howard benefitted from electric highlights on returns. Fitzgerald doesn't do that...

[TroyF]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
Change his name to Eli Cowperwood and I doubt he'd even get a whiff of the Heisman. In truth, he is a very good college quarterback but his bloodline gives him a leg up on others who may be more deserving. Roethlisberger is one, perhaps Philip Rivers, or even Rod Rutherford. The best quarterback I saw all year was Matt Leinart.

Maybe so, but Eli doesn't have the weapons of Leinhart. I think Eli made an average team good/very good.

I'm not sure any of the others outside of Roethlisberger have accomplished that.

Manning played in the toughest conference in college football (both IMO and ratings wise) and put together an incredible year.

Rivers is a guy I like a lot, but NC State failed to live up to expectations.

Eli may get more publicity because of his name, but I still say he's a better college football player than White is. Again, that's no dis on White. How can you not cheer for that kid? He's in a perfect system though.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by TroyF
Manning played in the toughest conference in college football (both IMO and ratings wise) and put together an incredible year.

Just for discussion's sake, I pulled up Mississippi's schedule for this season. They didn't play Georgia or Tennessee, and had the following other results:

Wins:
Vanderbilt
Louisiana-Monroe
Florida
Arkansas State
Alabama
Arkansas
South Carolina
Auburn
Mississippi St.

Losses:
Memphis
Texas Tech
LSU

The Florida and Auburn wins are nice, but otherwise nothing impresses me much. Manning racked up good numbers against average or poor teams. The losses are weak except for LSU.

As you said about White, I'm not knocking Manning - he is a very good player, I just think he gets an unfair advantage due to his name.

[Easy Mac]

In their losses to Memphis and TT, they scored a combined 79 points. A QB can't play defense. You can't blame him for those.

LSU's pass defense is one of the tops in the nation, and the running game was non-existent in the game.

[Young Drachma]

Originally posted by rexallllsc
Has ESPN ever hyped a player as much as Larry Fitzgerald?

Man, he really tore up Miami! lol.

I was thinking the same thing. Not that I mind, I think he's awesome. But I bet they're taking a lot of heat for hyping him up so much. He's holding up his end of the bargain, because he's made some incredible plays.

I think they figure that without their hype, he wouldn't even have a shot at all. Until White lost the other night against K-State, he was the hyped favorite. Of course, Manning is up there too.

We'll see I guess. I suspect there might be a backlash because of all the hype of Fitzgerald from ESPN. But I hope not.

[Easy Mac]

I think Williams in USC has made some more amazing plays, and I've never seen Fitzgerald blcok.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by Easy Mac
In their losses to Memphis and TT, they scored a combined 79 points. A QB can't play defense. You can't blame him for those.

I was basically countering Troy's point about Mississippi's success, not Manning's performance in those games. However, since you mentioned it, Eli threw late, comeback-thwarting INTs in both contests. His stats were nice but he didn't pull out the wins against inferior opponents.

But really, I am not busting on Manning's qualities! He's a very good quarterback. I am merely saying that he benefits from his name, and others don't. If Rivers and Manning swapped names, NC State would be celebrating a Heisman finalist and not Ole Miss.

[albionmoonlight]

I have not watched enough college FB to measure these players accurately. However, I have a mistrust of the requisite "best QB/RB out of the top five teams" candidate. I also think that non-QB/RB candidates are under-rated. Accordingly, since people seem to think that Fitzgerald and White are running neck and neck, my instincts tell me that Fitzgerald probably has a better claim to it (after factoring in the various over and under ratings that generally happen).

[Vegas Vic]

My vote would go to running back Darren Sproles from Kansas State. He rushed for 1,948 yards (6.6 YPC) and scored 15 TD's. He also had 282 receiving yards and 2 TD receptions. In the Big XII Championship game, he humilated the OU defense, rushing for 235 yards on 22 carries.

It's a crying shame that this kid isn't getting more consideration from the media and the voters.

[VPI97]

Originally posted by Easy Mac
I think Williams in USC has made some more amazing plays, and I've never seen Fitzgerald blcok.

You haven't watched any Pitt games. Fitzgerald generally does a very good job at downfield blocking. I know that in the VT - Pitt game, they turned some good runs into big runs due to Fitzgerald's blocking.

[SackAttack]

Just from what games I've seen, I'd have to go with Williams or Sproles, but among the finalists...Jason White.

[tucker342]

Originally posted by scooper
Granted he played weak competition, but Ben Roethlisberger may be a better football player than any of them.

Well, he looked like SHIT against Iowa. Didn't he have like 4 ints in that game???

[tucker342]

dola-

I voted for Fitzgerald. Even though he won't win, since he's a Sophmore

[MizzouRah]

Jason White, for the simple fact he's in the BIG 12.

Actually, he's had a great year for OU, great team or not.


Next year I want to see Brad Smith on the ballot.



Todd

[Darkiller]

I don't follow College Football as much as I would like but anytime a QB (obviously the most critical position in the game) throws for 40 TDs against only 8 INTs in a season, this is remarkable.
And for that, he has my vote.