Before playing in the college football playoffs, Alabama running back Derrick Henry will stop off this weekend in NY, where he could be taking home some valuable hardware. Henry, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy. When you add up those totals, he contributed 3,496 all-purpose yards which breaks Barry Sanders’ all-time record for most all-purpose yards in a season (albeit in two more games than Sanders played).
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Henry, considered the favorite for the trophy, shared the Alabama workload a year ago.
Ervin’s output over 12 games was tremendous, but he would have needed to play five more games to match Christian McCaffrey’s 2015 all-purpose yardage. In the SEC title game on Saturday he carried 44 times for 189 yards.
The Heisman Trophy Trust on Monday evening announced the three finalists for its 81st annual award, given to the player voted to be the best in college football.
Mark Ingram of Alabama in 2009 was the last running back – and only Crimson Tide player – to win the Heisman.
Stanford is used to coming up short when it comes to the most prestigious award in college football, says Cajuste, referencing runner-up Heisman campaigns for Andrew Luck (second in voting in 2010 and ’11) and Toby Gerhart (’09).
Deshaun Watson led Clemson to an undefeated record, throwing for 3,512 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 69.2 percent of his passes.
On Sunday after the win over A&M, Fournette tweeted, “The insane thing is my team told me I am the Heisman victor in their eyes”.
Watson is fourth nationally in total offense with 4,399 yards, which is more than in-state rival SC had as a team.
The 6-foot-3, 242-pound Henry is perhaps the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
He became the first Southeastern Conference player to run for at least 200 yards in three straight games.
McCaffrey might have half the touchdowns of Henry, but he had more yards from scrimmage (2,387 to 2,083) on only 11 more touches, against a comparable schedule, and with less help around him. In his second season with the Cardinal he has rushed for 1847 yards and 8 touchdowns and caught four more touchdowns while gaining 540 yards in the air.
The two running backs with different styles and the dual-threat quarterback of the No. 1 team in the country are headed for NY after being named Heisman finalists Monday.
“I got a little emotional when I found out”, McCaffrey said. Dylan, who will be a senior next year is a quarterback and has thrown for 5227 yards in three seasons and 49 touchdowns.
Against the Tide on national television, Fournette carried the ball 19 times and ran for 31 yards – a 1.6-yard average. The ESPN telecast begins at 5 p.m.
Watson was the head of one of the nation’s most well rounded and potent offenses. “We have never been to NY”.
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PRO PROSPECTS: A junior, Henry is widely regarded as the second-best running back who could be available in the 2016 draft behind Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott.
