S.I.'s 10 Top Heisman Candidates for 2016

[Duo]

Listed in alphabetical order:

J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State

Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia

Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State

Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU

Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon

Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma

Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford

Seth Russell, QB, Baylor

Greg Ward Jr., QB, Houston

Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson

 

[IrishBlooded]

If you really think cook has a chance of winning it in a year with Chubb, and Fournette, and McCaffery you are delusional.

Oh wait. You are a FSU fan. That is in your blood.

 

[Duo]

I'd say for QB's it's all about wins and passing stats. For RB's it's all about number of carries, yards and who can stay free of injuries the longest. For that reason my guess is the RB leader half way through the season will not be the ultimate winner.........too much wear and tear on the legs and body. This year the competition will be menacingly wild. All things are possible.

Further, there is a possibility someone outside the list will win the Heisman as it happened in 2012 and 2013.

 

[1Redrum]

They should have also put in "Starting ND QB "

 

[Duo]

They should have also put in "Starting ND QB "

Is that presumed to be Kizer at this point?

 

[1Redrum]

Is that presumed to be Kizer at this point?

If it was I would have put his name there. I have no idea and really do not care which one it is...as long as they are playing the best this team could be undefeated half way through the year and both should be putting up some good numbers.

 

[Epictitus]

Barring injuries it will come down to Fournette and McCafferry with Watson and Chubb in the mix if the front runners falter.

 

[scubastevefl]

McCafferty was robbed last year.

 

[scotchirishblood]

Injuries will be the great equalizer again next year. If all presumed candidates stay healthy Watson and Kaaya are expected to be the top Heisman QB's and first QB's chosen in the draft. Fournette and Cook are projected most NFL ready backs and likely Heisman favorites with McAfferty, the Oregon RB (names escapes me) and possibly Chubb (should he be fully recovered) in the 2nd tier.

 

[IrishBlooded]

Cook might not even be the best RB in the ACC this year with Connor returning from Cancer treatments.

So I don't know I would be bragging about Cook on an ND board.

 

[Duo]

Cook might not even be the best RB in the ACC this year with Connor returning from Cancer treatments.

So I don't know I would be bragging about Cook on an ND board.

It's an SI article with 10 possible Heisman candidates listed in alphabetical order. The only person mentioning Cook is you.

 

[scotchirishblood]

It's an SI article with 10 possible Heisman candidates listed in alphabetical order. The only person mentioning Cook is you.

True ..... but I still will take the evals of the NFL scouts and those who make a living at projecting talent and results over message board fodder from anonymous posters with biased agendas.

That said, there's a reason those I mentioned above are the presumed front runners for the Heisman. Watson speaks for himself. Kaaya needs more talent aound him and better coaching (which he has) but the skills are there. Fournette has been a household name since high school. As far as Cook is concerned he was a five star RB from a storied high school FB factory in Miami and last year as a sophomore led ALL running backs mentioned in this thread in average YPC and runs over 20 yards. Broke numerous records and did so injured most of the season missing several games and playing hurt in numerous others. If healthy he is considered by those that matter one of the most (if not THE most) dangerous RB in the country.

Again, injuries are the unpredictable variable that will affect the results along with wins and loses that always play an integral part in modern Heisman voting.

 

[Duo]

True ..... but I still will take the evals of the NFL scouts and those who make a living at projecting talent and results over message board fodder from anonymous posters with biased agendas.

That said, there's a reason those I mentioned above are the presumed front runners for the Heisman. Watson speaks for himself. Kaaya needs more talent aound him and better coaching (which he has) but the skills are there. Fournette has been a household name since high school. As far as Cook is concerned he was a five star RB from a storied high school FB factory in Miami and last year as a sophomore led ALL running backs mentioned in this thread in average YPC and runs over 20 yards. Broke numerous records and did so injured most of the season missing several games and playing hurt in numerous others. If healthy he is considered by those that matter one of the most (if not THE most) dangerous RB in the country.

Again, injuries are the unpredictable variable that will affect the results along with wins and loses that always play an integral part in modern Heisman voting.

ScotchIrish...........
Good post! Obviously you've done your homework. Life is tough, really tough for big time college RB's. I honestly don't see how the smaller guys take it.

 

[irishalice]

True ..... but I still will take the evals of the NFL scouts and those who make a living at projecting talent and results over message board fodder from anonymous posters with biased agendas.

That said, there's a reason those I mentioned above are the presumed front runners for the Heisman. Watson speaks for himself. Kaaya needs more talent aound him and better coaching (which he has) but the skills are there. Fournette has been a household name since high school. As far as Cook is concerned he was a five star RB from a storied high school FB factory in Miami and last year as a sophomore led ALL running backs mentioned in this thread in average YPC and runs over 20 yards. Broke numerous records and did so injured most of the season missing several games and playing hurt in numerous others. If healthy he is considered by those that matter one of the most (if not THE most) dangerous RB in the country.

Again, injuries are the unpredictable variable that will affect the results along with wins and loses that always play an integral part in modern Heisman voting.

Are you the spawn of No1e?

 

[Epictitus]

Wasn't it Mo1e? I think he died.

 

[cgvr]

True ..... but I still will take the evals of the NFL scouts and those who make a living at projecting talent and results over message board fodder from anonymous posters with biased agendas.

That said, there's a reason those I mentioned above are the presumed front runners for the Heisman. Watson speaks for himself. Kaaya needs more talent aound him and better coaching (which he has) but the skills are there. Fournette has been a household name since high school. As far as Cook is concerned he was a five star RB from a storied high school FB factory in Miami and last year as a sophomore led ALL running backs mentioned in this thread in average YPC and runs over 20 yards. Broke numerous records and did so injured most of the season missing several games and playing hurt in numerous others. If healthy he is considered by those that matter one of the most (if not THE most) dangerous RB in the country.

Again, injuries are the unpredictable variable that will affect the results along with wins and loses that always play an integral part in modern Heisman voting.

Here's a listing that's worth watching. You have to page down a bit to get to Heisman.... PS be careful with argie, he's known to post prior year's numbers and argue about them as current. It's very entertaining.

https://sports.bovada.lv/football

 

[scotchirishblood]

Are you the spawn of No1e?

?

Not my opinion. I'm simply paraphrasing the publicly stated opinions of those who are supposed to know more than most of us. Judging from many of the posts in this thread I think it's obvious that they do.

 

[IrishBlooded]

It's an SI article with 10 possible Heisman candidates listed in alphabetical order. The only person mentioning Cook is you.

Was there an ND guy on the list? The only person on that entire list that ND will even see on the regular season field this year is from Stanford. And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND

Again, it is just you wanting to blow your wad talking about FSU on the ND board. And again, I could see Connor at PITT having a better year than Cook does at FSU. So not sure why a heisman list, in May, is even worth posting (unless you are that desperate). Which brings me back you to you being the delusional FSU fan. The last time this thread went around it was 'Ponder for Heisman' in May.

 

[Duo]

Here's a listing that's worth watching. You have to page down a bit to get to Heisman.... PS be careful with argie, he's known to post prior year's numbers and argue about them as current. It's very entertaining.

https://sports.bovada.lv/football

cgvr...........

Very interesting! The list's odds heavily favor Watson, Fournette and McCaffrey.

3 of the best games to watch this year, all with NC implications will feature those 3 guys:

Clemson at FSU (Watson)
Stanford at ND (McCaffrey)
Alabama at LSU (Fournette)

If any of those 3 can help in a significant way to bring victory to their respective teams in these games it should give them a real boost in the Heisman voting. Of course, the opponents will have their Heisman hopefuls as well. All 3 should be classic games.

 

[cgvr]

Was there an ND guy on the list? The only person on that entire list that ND will even see on the regular season field this year is from Stanford. And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND

Again, it is just you wanting to blow your wad talking about FSU on the ND board. And again, I could see Connor at PITT having a better year than Cook does at FSU. So not sure why a heisman list, in May, is even worth posting (unless you are that desperate). Which brings me back you to you being the delusional FSU fan. The last time this thread went around it was 'Ponder for Heisman' in May.

This is false:

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

McCaffery's lowest offensive and return output came against Northwestern and UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

PS Against ND he was missing injured Dan Marx (next stop NFL) who is an absolute FB hammer.

 

[cgvr]

cgvr...........

Very interesting! The list's odds heavily favor Watson, Fournette and McCaffrey.

3 of the best games to watch this year, all with NC implications will feature those 3 guys:

Clemson at FSU (Watson)
Stanford at ND (McCaffrey)
Alabama at LSU (Fournette)

If any of those 3 can help in a significant way to bring victory to their respective teams in these games it should give them a real boost in the Heisman voting. Of course, the opponents will have their Heisman hopefuls as well. All 3 should be classic games.

I thought I saw Kizer up earlier this year. Fournette is a monster talent. If he gets the lungs going he's going to be even more monstrous. He's still growing into his body. McCaffrey is just a freak. I'm curious to see what Harbaugh does with his brother. Watson is very slick.

Those are great games and it will be real interesting to watch this season unfold. I'm hoping that teams on our schedule surprise and have strong seasons. We'll need that to boost our playoff chances. I approach every year the same. We're in the hunt until we are eliminated.

PS This opening Texas game has been circled by Strong for a long time. I think they may be starting a true FR QB. imo It'll help if they have to keep it on the ground....

 

[Duo]

This is false:

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

McCaffery's lowest offensive and return output came against Northwestern and UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards
PS Against ND he was missing injured Dan Marx (next stop NFL) who is an absolute FB hammer.

Good work and great info. Almost looks like McCaffrey beat ND single handedly. Sometimes posters are 180 out but say things anyway. Man up? Humm? Let's see.

 

[cgvr]

Good work and great info. Almost looks like McCaffrey beat ND single handedly. Sometimes posters are 180 out but say things anyway. Man up? Humm? Let's see.

"Kevin Hogan sucks. I feel confidant we can beat Stanford just because Kevin Hogan is their QB.
The Irish are going 14 and 0 this year !! Catch the Wind -- Win it for Cecil !!
11Bodizephax"

Kevin Hogan 17/21 269 yards, 4 TDs, 0 Ints, 18 yards rushing....

His last throw was crushing....

 

[TheDecker]

This is false:

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

McCaffery's lowest offensive and return output came against Northwestern and UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

PS Against ND he was missing injured Dan Marx (next stop NFL) who is an absolute FB hammer.

I would argue that ND was McCaffery's worst game from scrimmage

McCaffery had near identical yardage totals from scrimmage in the ND and UCF games, but his yards/play (from schrimmage) was much worse against ND and he didn't get a TD (where he did against UCF)

The ND/Northwestern games were much closer for McCaffery imo. He got more touches and thus more total production against ND but his efficency stats were much better against Northwester (5.5 YPC v. Northwestern, 3.5 v. ND)

ND did about as well as you can do limiting him.....unfortunately, we weren't nearly as successful against Hogan

 

[cgvr]

I would argue that ND was McCaffery's worst game from scrimmage

McCaffery had near identical yardage totals from scrimmage in the ND and UCF games, but his yards/play (from schrimmage) was much worse against ND and he didn't get a TD (where he did against UCF)

The ND/Northwestern games were much closer for McCaffery imo. He got more touches and thus more total production against ND but his efficency stats were much better against Northwester (5.5 YPC v. Northwestern, 3.5 v. ND)

ND did about as well as you can do limiting him.....unfortunately, we weren't nearly as successful against Hogan

I posted his numbers and he had less output in other games. I didn't see his UCF game and wonder how many minutes he played. Against Northwestern the whole Stanford team looked like they were knee deep in mud. I'm guessing that was his worst game.

As I stated, against us, it was his first game without his lead blocker. Keep your eye on Marx. As a HS junior I stated to a friend, "He reminds me of Csonka. The guy said, "He's bigger". Crazy. The good news is they will be starting a new QB. Plus, I think there #63 recruit class may be Jrs or Srs.

 

[TheDecker]

I posted his numbers and he had less output in other games. I didn't see his UCF game and wonder how many minutes he played. Against Northwestern the whole Stanford team looked like they were knee deep in mud. I'm guessing that was his worst game.

As I stated, against us, it was his first game without his lead blocker. Keep your eye on Marx. As a HS junior I stated to a friend, "He reminds me of Csonka. The guy said, "He's bigger". Crazy. The good news is they will be starting a new QB. Plus, I think there #63 recruit class may be Jrs or Srs.

You posted SOME of his numbers from those 3 games....but not even close to enough to make a reasonably accurate determination
(Which is what I pointed out to you in my post)

McAffery actually produced more from scrimmage against UCF than ND...never mind the efficiency gap as well

 

[cgvr]

You posted SOME of his numbers from those 3 games....but not even close to enough to make a reasonably accurate determination
(Which is what I pointed out to you in my post)

McAffery actually produced more from scrimmage against UCF than ND...never mind the efficiency gap as well

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

McCaffery's lowest offensive and return output came against Northwestern and UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

 

[TheDecker]

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

McCaffery's lowest offensive and return output came against Northwestern and UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

Kickoff and punt returns aren't offensive output and they're not performed against a defensive unit.

McAffery and more offensive output against UCF than he did against ND and he did it on fewer touches

McAffery had more output against ND than he did against Northwestern, but that was largely a function of workload (as he was much more efficient against Northwester)

Overall, I would say that it's either the ND game or the Northwestern game where he was bottled up most effectively

 

[Epictitus]

Once again cgvr demonstrates how little he knows about the game.

 

[Duo]

No matter how you slice it or make comparisons to other teams overall McCaffrey had a pretty darn good day against the Irish last year and he did it without his starting FB!

ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

The stats speak for themselves. Can't imagine any coach feeling dismayed with that kind of production.

 

[cgvr]

Kickoff and punt returns aren't offensive output and they're not performed against a defensive unit.

McAffery and more offensive output against UCF than he did against ND and he did it on fewer touches

McAffery had more output against ND than he did against Northwestern, but that was largely a function of workload (as he was much more efficient against Northwester)

Overall, I would say that it's either the ND game or the Northwestern game where he was bottled up most effectively

Unfortunately for you, Irish blooded posited that:

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

No where did he reference "offensive production". Therefore, return numbers are part of production.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

 

[TheDecker]

Unfortunately for you, Irish blooded posited that:

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

No where did he reference "offensive production". Therefore, return numbers are part of production.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

lol

No, no there not

But it's great to see that your final futile attempt at defending your moronic statements is "well e said this word so I'm counting it!!"

Really days all that needs to be said about you and your (in)ability to think or discuss on an adult level

 

[TheDecker]

No matter how you slice it or make comparisons to other teams overall McCaffrey had a pretty darn good day against the Irish last year and he did it without his starting FB!

ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

The stats speak for themselves. Can't imagine any coach feeling dismayed with that kind of production.

Those are really average to below average offensive stats, especially when you look at the whole picture (how many touches it took him to get those stats)

In fact, I would say he had a flat out ineffective game against ND as an offensive player

Really the only place McAffery hurt ND in 2015 was special teams

 

[cgvr]

lol

No, no there not

But it's great to see that your final futile attempt at defending your moronic statements is "well e said this word so I'm counting it!!"

Really days all that needs to be said about you and your (in)ability to think or discuss on an adult level

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

Production is all purpose yards. Included in all purpose yards are punt, kick returns, int returns, misc yds.....

Lastly, Northwestern had the # 13 total D last year. ND was # 45 and UCF was # 114.

McCaffrey was still playing in the 4th quarter versus UCF.

I'd posit that with those rankings as a background his worst game was against UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

 

[IrishBlooded]

This is false:

"And his worst production of the entire season last year.......... Came against ND"

McCaffery's lowest offensive and return output came against Northwestern and UCF.

NW 66 yds rushing, 23 receiving, 90 KO return, -8 PR 171 yds (Stanford lost)
UCF 58 rushing yds, 59 receiving, 17 KO return, 32 PR 166 yards
ND 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards

PS Against ND he was missing injured Dan Marx (next stop NFL) who is an absolute FB hammer.

I was wrong there. I thought he had more yards / carry against UCF (2.9), he only averaged 3.5 yards carry against ND. And averaged 5.5 yards / carry against Northwestern as a RB. I never count Special Teams.

 

[cgvr]

I was wrong there. I thought he had more yards / carry against UCF (2.9), he only averaged 3.5 yards carry against ND. And averaged 5.5 yards / carry against Northwestern as a RB. I never count Special Teams.

Plus, UCF's D was miserable.

ND did a solid job against McCaffrey and held him 48 yards below his 276 YPG average.

PS He also had 136 yards versus Washington State & 197 versus Colorado.
http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/20

"Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, already the holder of the NCAA single-season all-purpose yardage record, broke the Rose Bowl mark in that category during Stanford's 45-16 rout of Iowa on Friday.

McCaffrey finished with 368 all-purpose yards, besting the old mark by Wisconsin receiver Jared Abbrederis, who had 346 yards against Oregon in the 2012 Rose Bowl. McCaffrey's yardage also was the fourth-most in any bowl game ever.

In addition, McCaffrey became the first player in the 102-year history of the Rose Bowl with at least 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving. And he became Stanford's single-season rushing leader with 2,109 yards."

The guy's remarkable.

 

[Duo]

Those are really average to below average offensive stats, especially when you look at the whole picture (how many touches it took him to get those stats)

In fact, I would say he had a flat out ineffective game against ND as an offensive player

Really the only place McAffery hurt ND in 2015 was special teams

Ahh soo........

and with that 94 Rushing, 19 receiving, 109 Kick off return, 6 PR 228 yards McCaffrey's "ineffective game" even though he scored a TD was really a poor showing?

Ahh.........sure, whatever you say.

 

[TheDecker]

You need to learn how to not post in a quote

And yes, less than 100 yards rushing, less than 25 yards receiving, and fewer than 4 YPC with no rushing or receiving TDs........pretty ineffective.
Not terrible, but overall, not very good

For comparison's sake, ND's True Frosh (4th String) RB in that same game:

• 18 Carries
• 168 Rushing Yards
• 9.33 Yards/Carry
• 1 TD
• 2 Receptions
• 28 Receiving Yards

Like I said, against ND McAffery was good on Special Teams but was largely ineffective as an offensive player

 

[cgvr]

You need to learn how to not post in a quote

And yes, less than 100 yards rushing, less than 25 yards receiving, and fewer than 4 YPC with no rushing or receiving TDs........pretty ineffective.
Not terrible, but overall, not very good

For comparison's sake, ND's True Frosh (4th String) RB in that same game:

• 18 Carries
• 168 Rushing Yards
• 9.33 Yards/Carry
• 1 TD
• 2 Receptions
• 28 Receiving Yards

Like I said, against ND McAffery was good on Special Teams but was largely ineffective as an offensive player

Stanford went 5 for 5 in the Red Zone scoring TDs each time. I'm quite certain McCaffrey was drawing tons of attention. We were held to field goals on our first three trips inside the 20 and settled for FGs.

If anything was ineffective it was our Red Zone performance on both sides of the ball....

PS In addition, Kizer fumbled in our last first half possession. He reached the 22, fumbled and it was recovered on the 23. So, that was a blown scoring possession.

ND snapped a 9 game streak of McCaffrey rushing for over 100 yds....

 

[TheDecker]

Stanford went 5 for 5 in the Red Zone scoring TDs each time. I'm quite certain McCaffrey was drawing tons of attention. We were held to field goals on our first three trips inside the 20 and settled for FGs.

If anything was ineffective it was our Red Zone performance on both sides of the ball....

PS In addition, Kizer fumbled in our last first half possession. He reached the 22, fumbled and it was recovered on the 23. So, that was a blown scoring possession.

ND snapped a 9 game streak of McCaffrey rushing for over 100 yds....

And when you get undressed in a conversation, you switch topics...........typical

McAffery had an ineffective game where he was held under 100 yards and 25 yards passing with less than 4 YPC.......that's ineffective

Hogan had a FANTASTIC game against ND, where he barely missed a single throw (and that was the difference in the game)