2009 Heisman Trophy Thread

[DeToxRox]

Honestly, I think this deserves a thread this year because it's so wide open.

Colt McCoy probably gets it but shouldn't, especially with that bone headed play that almost cost UT their season. Add in the fact UT played basically no one and it just seems like a lost cause for him. I think Shipley deserved it over him on that team.

I think if I had a vote It'd go:

1. Suh
2. Gilyard
3. Gerhart
4. Ingram
5. Keenum

Suh was the best player in college football by far, which is what a defensive player needs to be to get Heisman consideration. 12 tackles and 4.5 sacks tonight alone, from a DT? Seriously?

I know if Nebraska had been an 11 or 12 win team, Suh might win it, but it is robbery if he isn't at least in NYC.

With Gilyard, he's just a stud. Flat out, the kid makes plays and today he kept their season alive with big play after big play.

Flip a coin on Gerhart/Ingram. I put Gerhart 3 because Bama doesn't lose a step when Ingram is out, whereas Stanford is an entirely different team.

Keenum was 5 just because I think he was the best QB in college this year.

So anyway, what say you?

[Lathum]

Hard to argue against Suh. Kid is an absolute stud. Will look good in a Lions uniform, unless they draft Gilyard.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Hard to argue against Suh. Kid is an absolute stud. Will look good in a Lions uniform, unless they draft Gilyard.

I'll kill you.

And yes, I love Suh and he is the best player in this draft with Berry as his 1a. Too bad the Lions are gonna win enough games to most likely not get him.

I mean, 3 wins tomorrow, after we kill the Bengals obv.

[Atocep]

Who I think should get it?

1. Suh
2. Spiller
3. Clausen
4. Ingram
5. McCoy


Who will win it?

1. McCoy
2. Ingram
3. Gerhart

[JonInMiddleGA]

1. Suh - most dominant player in the college game today
2. Tebow - Florida doesn't win 6 games without him
3. Ingram
4. Shipley
5. Gerhart

[RainMaker]

1) Suh
2) Spiller
3) Gerhart
4) Pike
5) Moore

Without the injury, I'd have Pike higher on the list. He was amazing in crunch time for them.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

2. Tebow - Florida doesn't win 6 games without him

Come on, Florida has one of the best defenses in the country and their backup is really good.

[ISiddiqui]

I'm rooting for Gerhart, but he'll never get it.

[kcchief19]

1. Suh
2. McCoy
3. Gerhart
4. Alexander
5. Moore

I've sold on Suh since he took over the game against Missouri and pretty much won it single handily. I think McCoy is the MVP of the best team in the county. Toby Gerhart, Danario Alexander and Kellen Moore are three guys on teams who make those teams so much better than they would be otherwise. the fact that Alexander got snubbed by the Biletnikoff Award people and beat out by Gilyard on the AFCE all-American team makes those honors a complete joke.

I'm sure Tebow will get to New York but he doesn't deserve it. I'm not sure he's one of the five best QBs in the country much less five best players. Even if you combine his numbers you're talking about 3,000 yards and 30 TDs. Colin Kapernick of Nevada was more Tebow-like this year than Tebow was.

[Julio Riddols]

Tebow was really a major disappointment this season. Seems his surrounding talent made him what he was, and he was exposed repeatedly against Alabama today.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Tebow was really a major disappointment this season. Seems his surrounding talent made him what he was, and he was exposed repeatedly against Alabama today.

Or he just had a bad game and Florida as a team was outplayed in every facet by Alabama. While he didn't quite live up to his past success this season. and won't experience this kind of success in the pros, he still will likely go down as one of the all time greats in college.

[Karlifornia]

I have to be a homer and say Gerhart. He is so much better than any other running back I've seen this season, I can't even put it into words.

How I would vote

1.Gerhart
2.Suh
3.Spiller
4.Tebow
5.McCoy

How I think it will go down

1.Ingram
2.McCoy
3.Gerhart
4.Spiller
5.Kellen Moore

[rowech]

1. Gerhart
2. Ingram
3. Suh

None of the QBs should be in consideration. They're all good but none of them have been great.

[Chief Rum]

I'm going to guess that missing three games will take him out of the running, but any love for Pike?

I would love to see Gerhart get it.

[Butter]

If Clemson had pulled it out last night, I think Spiller would've pulled enough votes to get to New York (but probably not win) with his 4 TD, 200+ yard effort. McCoy, Tebow, and Ingram are givens to get invites. But as it is, I am hoping that the West pulls together and votes big for Gerhart. I think he deserves the trophy.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I'm going to guess that missing three games will take him out of the running, but any love for Pike?

That and his back up didn't exactly do bad either.

[Eaglesfan27]

I would love for Gerhart to get it, but I think if any defensive player who didn't play some offense should get it, this is the year for Suh.

How I would vote:

1. Suh - last night was a true Heisman type performance and has been great all year.
2. Gerhart - Has come up big in some huge games and Stanford would lose many more games without him.
3. Ingram - I think Bama would have lost at least 1 and probably 2 games without his big performances earlier in the year.
4. Shipley - He's been the most explosive Texas player and has done more to make Colt look good than vice versa this year.
5. Keenum - He's post up some great numbers.

How I think it turns out:

1. Ingram
2. McCoy
3. Spiller
4. Gerhart
5. Tebow

[bulletsponge]

its always an offense guy, a QB of an undefeated team. never about whos the best college player

[MizzouRah]

It's nice to come into this thread and see I agree with the consensus that Suh should win it.

I hope voters watched that Texas - Nebraska game last night and saw what one dominate player can do against one of the top teams in the nation.

I believe Ingram will win it though..

[Sun Tzu]

Put Gerhart on an SEC team and everybody in the nation would be picking him as the top guy. The guy is rediculous, and played for little to no fanfare for half the year.

[jbergey22]

Id vote
1. Suh - Best player in college football this year. Was an absolute beast in their biggest game of the year
2. Ingram - Had a lot of huge games for bama this. With Julio struggling at time, they had to turn to him a lot
3. Gerhart - I love watching this guy, an absolute beast and the biggest reason Stanford is winning games now
4. McCoy - Not a huge fan but his numbers are hard to argue with
5. Tebow- Courtesty vote here. One of the best NCAA football players in history. Plus hes a class act.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

Put Gerhart on an SEC team and everybody in the nation would be picking him as the top guy. The guy is rediculous, and played for little to no fanfare for half the year.

He averaged the same YPC as Anthony Dixon, .6 YPC less than Mark Ingram and a full 1.1 YPC less than McCluster. A big back that consistently picks up first downs is great, but let's not go overboard here - he might not have even been the best RB in the state of California this year.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

He averaged the same YPC as Anthony Dixon, .6 YPC less than Mark Ingram and a full 1.1 YPC less than McCluster. A big back that consistently picks up first downs is great, but let's not go overboard here - he might not have even been the best RB in the state of California this year.

Give Ingram another 50 carris to match the workload Gerhart had and that average would come down. McCluster's not even in the argument -- he had almost a third of the work of Gerhart. If YPC is a magic standard, put Vai Taua of Nevada on the top of your ballot.

But I think the argument is that based on his performance, if you put Gerhart on Alabama and Ingram on Stanford, Gerhart would be getting all the Heisman love.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Give Ingram another 50 carris to match the workload Gerhart had and that average would come down. McCluster's not even in the argument -- he had almost a third of the work of Gerhart. If YPC is a magic standard, put Vai Taua of Nevada on the top of your ballot.

But I think the argument is that based on his performance, if you put Gerhart on Alabama and Ingram on Stanford, Gerhart would be getting all the Heisman love.

Yeah, but put Gerhart on a 8-4 team in the SEC (Ole Miss?) and he wouldn't be. I said in the other thread if we're going to give it to a player outside the title contendors for putting up counting stats go Case Keenum instead of Gerhart.

I'm also not the biggest Ingram fan (I don't even think he's the best RB on Alabama), but the 3 games he had fewer than 17 carries (at most 11) were against FIU, Chattanooga and North Texas - I think he could have kept up the average with another 15 in those games. He also had 200 more receiving yards than Gerhart.

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Give Ingram another 50 carris to match the workload Gerhart had and that average would come down. McCluster's not even in the argument -- he had almost a third of the work of Gerhart. If YPC is a magic standard, put Vai Taua of Nevada on the top of your ballot.

But I think the argument is that based on his performance, if you put Gerhart on Alabama and Ingram on Stanford, Gerhart would be getting all the Heisman love.

Your right, McCluster is not in the picture for the vote. But the way you wrote it, I have to say you probably don't know much about him. He is a phenomenal player and is definately in the same talent group as anyone in the real heisman hunt. He was not used as a primary back until late in the season. The games where he got 15 or more carries were against South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennesse, LSU and Mississippi State. In those games he carried the ball a total of 124 times for 906 yards and 7.3 YPC. None of the backs you mentioned have come close to that kind of productivity against the same quality opponents. Watching McCluster is like watching a video game.

I'm sure Gerhart is good too. but, I'm on the other side of the discussion with you on him. I just have not seen him play any.

[k0ruptr]

I really think Kellen Moore should be in consideration, undefeated ,bcs team, amazing stats. seems like a no brainer for an invite to new york.

[CU Tiger]

I am an admitted homer, but IMHO neither this thread nor any other media outlet is giving CJ SPiller enough credit.

First he is one of 7 players ALL TIME with 7000 career APY, and he never started until this year.

Second he tied the record with 6 KO returns for a TD in one season, he returned his 6th on his 18th attempt. The record tie had 37 attempts. Team refuse to kick to him, Clemson has had 19 kickoffs kicked out of bounds this year to allow them to start on the 40.

If you have not watched this kid, you can not appreciate how good he is.

Add to the fact, he comes from a horrible background, is a devout Christian has gone on mission trips and DOES NOT beat his chest about it like some.

Now I know he will not win it, but in my opinion he is so far ahead of all the other candidates if he is not in NY the whole award is meaningless.
Bobby Bowden called him the best player he had seen in a decade and among the 3 best ever.
Nick Saban said he was more explosive and talented than any player he had ever coached against.

But alas, the ACC is a piss poor conference and Clemson has been a below average team, those things combine to say no chance for Spiller.

[Atocep]

10-15 years ago Spiller probably wins the Heisman. Voters, fans, and media used to love all-purpose players like him. Now, it's all about QBs on undefeated teams.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I am an admitted homer, but IMHO neither this thread nor any other media outlet is giving CJ SPiller enough credit.

First he is one of 7 players ALL TIME with 7000 career APY, and he never started until this year.

Second he tied the record with 6 KO returns for a TD in one season, he returned his 6th on his 18th attempt. The record tie had 37 attempts. Team refuse to kick to him, Clemson has had 19 kickoffs kicked out of bounds this year to allow them to start on the 40.

If you have not watched this kid, you can not appreciate how good he is.

Add to the fact, he comes from a horrible background, is a devout Christian has gone on mission trips and DOES NOT beat his chest about it like some.

Now I know he will not win it, but in my opinion he is so far ahead of all the other candidates if he is not in NY the whole award is meaningless.
Bobby Bowden called him the best player he had seen in a decade and among the 3 best ever.
Nick Saban said he was more explosive and talented than any player he had ever coached against.

But alas, the ACC is a piss poor conference and Clemson has been a below average team, those things combine to say no chance for Spiller.

That last sentence says much more than the other paragraphs unfortunately.

[Senator]

Just watch the very last game played like many in this thread have, and the players that seems like a "stud" suddenly should get it. Luckily Cincy and Nebraska had good games, and that is the only games that matter. Until the next game and this thread buzzes with new names.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Senator

Just watch the very last game played like many in this thread have, and the players that seems like a "stud" suddenly should get it. Luckily Cincy and Nebraska had good games, and that is the only games that matter. Until the next game and this thread buzzes with new names.

Suh has been dominating all season.

[Tigercat]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

How I would vote:

1. Suh - last night was a true Heisman type performance and has been great all year.
2. Gerhart - Has come up big in some huge games and Stanford would lose many more games without him.
3. Ingram - I think Bama would have lost at least 1 and probably 2 games without his big performances earlier in the year.
4. Shipley - He's been the most explosive Texas player and has done more to make Colt look good than vice versa this year.
5. Keenum - He's post up some great numbers.

Wow, that is my top 4 as well, I would go Gerhart 1 though. Suh would have been my #1 if Nebraska beat Texas. In a way that is unfair, but as great as Suh is, I think Gerhart has been nearly as great, only I have Gerhart making a greater impact on the college football landscape this year.

1 Gerhart
2 Suh
3 Ingram
4 Shipley
5 Tebow

[Eaglesfan27]

Heh, I strongly considered Tebow at #5, but Keenum's yardage and efficiency propelled him to the top of my QB list in a weak year for QB's.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Tigercat

Wow, that is my top 4 as well, I would go Gerhart 1 though. Suh would have been my #1 if Nebraska beat Texas. In a way that is unfair, but as great as Suh is, I think Gerhart has been nearly as great, only I have Gerhart making a greater impact on the college football landscape this year.

I just don't see this great impact. Stanford had a great win over Oregon (so did Kellen Moore) and other than that, what? A win over what ended up being an unranked USC team and a 6-6 Notre Dame team that couldn't stop anyone. His team is 8-4 and nowhere near BCS talk.

If we're opening up to players on teams at that level, he's behind Suh.
If we're picking a player for counting stats, he's behind Keenum.
If we're picking the offensive player with the biggest impact on a BCS team, it's McCoy (if you think not, look at OU after Bradford went down)
If it's the best pro prospect/most exciting RB it's Spiller.

Basically if you removed the name Stanford and the prestige of USC and Notre Dame he isn't in the race any more than LaMichael James, Dion Lewis or Ryan Williams. I would care less if people stopped talking about him not getting enough recognition every time they bring him up.

(And just because Vai Taua was mentioned an absurd stat - 3 players in the top 40 average more than 6.9ypc, all average 7.7-7.8 and all play for Nevada. Who Notre Dame somehow shutout, albeit with Taua out.)

[ISiddiqui]

You mean aside from Gerhart having about 100 more yards rushing and 10 more TDs than Lewis, 200 yards and 7 more TDs than Williams, and 250 yards and 12 TDs more than James? Yes, James deserves more love due to the lower amount of carries he has comparatively, but the 29 TDs and 1700+ yards by Gerhart are impressive regardless of "Stanford".

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

If we're picking the offensive player with the biggest impact on a BCS team, it's McCoy

If you're picking the offensive player with the biggest impact on a team playing in a BCS bowl then I'm voting Josh Nesbitt for Heisman.

Without him I'm not sure GT could beat the JV squad of any of the other 9 teams in the BCS games.

[ISiddiqui]

Hell, in that case, I may put in for Ricky Stanzi of Iowa. Look what happened when he got hurt. 2 losses out of 3 games (the one win over a craptastic Minnesota), when prior to his injury they were 9-0.

[Izulde]

I'd vote:

1. Suh
2. Gerhart
3. Ingram
4. Shipley
5. Moore

Suh and Gerhart are an easy 1-2 IMO. The others I'm fluid on. Tebow and McCoy get nowhere near my ballot, however.

[sooner333]

hxxp://stiffarmtrophy.com/

Good site for projecting the winner. Looks like a four-way battle right now.

[cartman]

Here's another tracking site:

http://www.heismanpundit.com

[Dr. Sak]

HP...although an admitted Pac 10 homer is actually very knowledgeable about the Heisman Trophy. He was the assistant SID for USC when Bush and Leinart took home the hardware.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by sooner333

hxxp://stiffarmtrophy.com/

Good site for projecting the winner. Looks like a four-way battle right now.

Looking at that site reminds me of the way Heisman voting went in TCY...didn't it go state-by-state? I forgot about how cool that was.

[Young Drachma]

The finalists:

Gerhart
McCoy
Tebow
Ingram
Suh

[Atocep]

I have to say I'm shocked Suh made the top 5.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I have to say I'm shocked Suh made the top 5.

I think voters watch TV and have been listening and there has been a steady stream all year saying "he won't get considered because of his position, but should. Maybe they were impacted."

[digamma]

Don't ignore the west coast voting block. Gerhart may win this thing.

[sooner333]

Is this a career-achievement invite for Tebow? Granted, he must have finished in the top-five, but I can't imagine he's very close to winning the thing.

[bhlloy]

Looking at the projections above it's a 4 man race, with Tebow indeed getting the career achievement vote but nowhere near a threat to win it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I have to say I'm shocked Suh made the top 5.

I am as well but pleased for him.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Looking at that site reminds me of the way Heisman voting went in TCY...didn't it go state-by-state? I forgot about how cool that was.

It was always quite fun coming from the Northeast or Midwest - until California and Texas came around, particularly if they only had one player.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

If you're picking the offensive player with the biggest impact on a team playing in a BCS bowl then I'm voting Josh Nesbitt for Heisman.

Without him I'm not sure GT could beat the JV squad of any of the other 9 teams in the BCS games.

You have the better idea of the difference to Jaybo Shaw, but there's at least the perception that there is other 1st-day NFL skill position offensive talent in Dwyer, Allen and Thomas.

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

You mean aside from Gerhart having about 100 more yards rushing and 10 more TDs than Lewis, 200 yards and 7 more TDs than Williams, and 250 yards and 12 TDs more than James?

Yes, similar but worse stats on similar but better teams. That's how the Heisman works unless you're Paul Hornung. I'm not arguing he's didn't have an impressive season - I'm arguing he didn't have the most impressive season of anyone in college football.