Alabama’s Derrick Henry is your 2015 Heisman Trophy victor, as if there was ever any doubt. He bound around the defense from that spot all season. His highlight reel was impressive.
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Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson has led the Tigers to an undefeated season and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. It was a clean sweep as the junior running back took the Doak Walker, Maxwell, Walter Camp Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy. His competition was Stanford’s rocket-fast punt returner Christian McCaffrey (1,539) and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (1,165).
Derrick Henry finished with 1,832 points in the voting.
Alabama running back Derrick Henry became the second Crimson Tide player in school history to secure the Heisman Trophy. The absence of Mayfield and Reynolds created howls of protest to the Heisman Trophy Trust. McCaffrey came closest to dethroning Henry, but he faced an uphill battle all season because of how Stanford started the year, with a 16-6 loss to Northwestern, along with the Cardinal’s frequent late-night kickoffs. His uncle, Billy, won a national championship in basketball at Duke. “It’s just about us loving you'”. McCaffrey, a sophomore, broke Barry Sanders’ 27-year-old record for all-purpose yardage with 3,496 yards.
Besides, McCaffrey has over a thousand – a thousand! – more all-purpose yards than anyone else in FBS.
After Ingram won the Heisman in 2009, he helped Alabama win the national title about a month later. But in my mind, being a running back/receiver/kick-returner extraordinaire makes you a better football player than being a running back extraordinaire.
“I just want to be a normal guy and walk the streets”, he said, adding the experience was at once “overwhelming” and “pretty cool”. “He’s a phenomenal football player”. It also marked a shift in the Heisman race. The SEC has been college football’s Tiffany league for years. Henry is now at 1,986 total rushing yards.
He was Alabama’s third consecutive Heisman finalist and fifth in the last seven seasons.
Last week, he broke Herschel Walker’s record for rushing yards in a season and tied the SEC record of Tim Tebow and Tre Mason for rushing touchdowns. Watson threw for 3,512 yards and 30 touchdowns.
McCaffrey isn’t the best running back in the land. McCaffrey would have won in a landslide. He also carried the Midwest, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Coach Nick Saban’s offensive philosophy is to use two tailbacks – Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, Richardson and Eddie Lacy, Lacy and T.J. Yeldon, Yeldon and Henry.
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“It definitely did. I’m still dreaming because it hasn’t hit me yet”, Henry said. “Following with anything less than that is unacceptable for me”.
