1) Vince Young – Great players do great things in big games. Vince Young led Texas to a BCS championship the year he was robbed of a Heisman by Reggie Bush. Texas snapped USC’s 34 games winning streak and outperformed the previous two Heisman winners (Bush and Matt Leinart). In the Rose Bowl, Vince Young put on one of the most dominating individual performances in college football history, accounting for 467 yards of total offense (200 rushing, 267 passing) and three rushing touchdowns (including a 9 yard TD scramble with 19 seconds left) to lead the Longhorns to a thrilling 41-38 victory. Young also happens to have been voted to the list of top 10 greatest players in the history of college football by ESPN. Young finished the season with 3,036 yards passing and 1,050 yards rushing earning him the Davey O'Brien Award.
2) Steve McNair – In the season this man was robbed, he was bypassed by two players. He obviously faced the stigma of being a Division I-AA player in the Heisman balloting. In his senior season, McNair gained nearly 6,000 yards rushing and passing, along with 53 touchdowns. In the process, he surpassed more than a dozen records and was named an All-American. In addition, McNair won the Walter Payton Award as the top I-AA player and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Rashaan Salaam and Ki-Jana Carter. McNair set career records for the Football Championship Series with 14,496 passing yards, as well as the division record for total offensive yards with 16,283 career yards. The records still stand.
3) Adrian Peterson – Peterson should have been the man to break the “sophomores don’t win Heismans” BS that Tim Tebow recently overcame. At Oklahoma, Peterson set the NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards as a true freshman. As a First-Team All-American, he also set a freshman record by finishing as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished as the school's third all-time leading rusher. During his freshman season, Peterson broke many NCAA freshman rushing records, rushing for 1925 yards and leading the nation in carries with 339. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy; finishing second to USC quarterback Matt Leinart, which was the highest finish ever for a freshman.
4) Peyton Manning – Tee Martin, a year removed from Peyton’s graduation, won a National Championship with Tennessee. I’ve never been a Manning fan, especially with the “he can’t beat Florida” stigma. But his accomplishments and college statistics can’t be ignored. He became Tennessee's all-time leading passer with 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns and won 39 of 45 games as a starter, breaking the Southeastern Conference (SEC) record for career wins. As a freshman, Manning was the third-string quarterback, but injuries to Todd Helton and Jerry Colquitt forced him to take and the Vols won all but one of their remaining games, finishing the season 8–4 with a 45–23 victory over Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl. As a senior, Manning won numerous awards; he was a consensus First-team All-American, the Maxwell Award winner, the Davey O'Brien Award winner, the Johnny Unitas Award winner, and the Best College Player ESPY Award winner, among others; however, he did not win the Heisman, finishing runner-up to Charles Woodson.
5) Lawrence Taylor - The words phenom and greatest of all time are rarified air for most except for a select few. Lawrence Taylor was referred to as being the greatest linebacker ever while still in college. He was changing the game before his legend began in the NFL. The funny thing about this is that LT was never even a contender to win the Heisman which in itself is a travesty. With 16 sacks in his final year and a ridiculous amount of records, consensus all-americas and carnage left in his wake, he ended up overshadowed by George Rogers, a running back and Hugh Green, a player with 17 sacks that same season and the highest voted defensive player to date at the time. My problem with this is that LT is one of the greatest college PLAYERS of all time and regardless of the stats that year, he was the most unstoppable force in college SPORTS, period. He is the most offensive defensive player in history and I am certain he received the nod from every opposing fat tackle and wobbly kneed QB.
1) Tim Tebow – This man suffers from Pete Sampras and Barry Sanders disease. He’s already won a Heisman and he’s been a part of two National Championships. It almost seems like he would have to throw for 100 TD’s next season for anyone to pay attention to anything he does. He makes the amazing seem routine. He won the Heisman as a sophomore (never had been done before), was the first player in history with 20 rushing and 20 passing TD’s, and set an SEC record with the most TD’s in a season. The only reason Tebow didn’t win the Heisman last year could have been totally political. Only one man has ever won multiple Heismans. He already broke the “sophomores don’t win the Heisman” belief amongst Heisman voters. But Tebow outplayed Bradford in the National Championship game last year, so no one can question the outcome of a head-to-head match-up. Tebow is a one man wrecking crew on offense and it seems like he top three finalist from last year will be in a duel to the end again this year.
2) Colt McCoy – Not the one man wrecking crew that Tebow is, but he is more mobile than people realize. He also outplayed Bradford last year in a head to head match-up (what were Heisman voters smoking last year). Colt McCoy suffers from Derek Jeter disease (I like sports references)…he gets the job done. It’s not in dramatic fashion, but he’s in control at all times. Michael Crabtree’s TD in the closing seconds of a game that McCoy almost won by himself ended McCoy’s cake walk to a Heisman and a showdown with Tebow in the BCS Championship game. This year the Big 12 is poised to play even worse defense than it did last year, so the Heisman race will come down to which QB can will his team to more wins.
3) Sam Bradford – Oklahoma’s offense was a juggernaut last year except in the two games against the men Bradford eventually beat for the Heisman (see #1 and #2 of this list). He played the majority of the season playing in a spread offense was could be seen leaving games w/o as much as a blade of grass on his “right out of the box” clean jersey. With 4 of the 5 offensive lineman that protected him gone, we’ll see how good Bradford actually is. His gaudy statistics carried him to a Heisman last year. Tebow and Florida lost to Ole Miss…a must win for that team. Texas lost to Texas Tech…a must win for that team. Oklahoma lost to Texas and Florida; two teams ranked in the top 5, so I guess you can almost rationalize why he got more votes than anyone else last year.
4) Dez Bryant – Now we’re in darkhorse territory. Not since Desmond Howard struck the Heisman pose in the end zone against Notre Dame has a wide receiver walked away with the Heisman. The odds are stacked against Bryant as Michael Crabtree was the latest wideout to have an All-world season (two years in a row) and didn’t come close to winning the Heisman. Bryant is the heat-seeking missile of the Oklahoma State battleship. Last year’s stats: almost 1,500 yards receiving (17.0 YPC) and 19 TD’s. He’ll walk away with the Biletnikoff, but he should be in the Heisman race.
5) Taylor Mays – Defense wins championships, but not Heismans. This is our “he deserves to be mentioned” pick. First the intangibles…Mays is 6’2”, 230 lbs and runs a 4.25. Can you say it with me…he’s as big as Marion Barber, he’s just as fast as Calvin Johnson and he gets a head start when running at ball carriers. If Offensive linemen get their pancakes counted as a stat, then Mays should get all his KO’s counted as a stat. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t end someone’s career this season. USC’s pass defense was ranked #1 in the country last year. Don’t be surprised if it is again this year. Many “draft experts” are calling Mays a lock for top 5 in next year’s draft. If Ronnie Lott didn’t win a Heisman, then Mays probably won’t sniff one, but we can always dream.
