Even if the voting doesn’t fully reflect it when it’s revealed on Saturday night, all three of these players – McCaffrey, Watson, and Henry – have put together incredible seasons.
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On the Tuesday broadcast of “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN, co-host Michael Wilbon reacted to the three Heisman Trophy finalists being named, calling Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey “the best player in college football by far”. When the times looked tough for Clemson, Watson was routinely cool under fire and never cost Clemson in a critical situation.
“It is a very special honor for me to be selected as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy”, Henry said following the announcement Monday evening, according to a school’s news release.
With Henry and McCaffrey accounting for two-thirds of the finalists, this year’s award may be the first since 2009 to be won by a running back.
Pegging a Heisman Trophy victor is a pursuit that manages to be awful, thankless, absurd and annual.
The two most noteworthy players not among the finalists are Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and LSU running back Leonard Fontenot, who was considered the front-runner for the Heisman midway through the season.
Henry seems to be the front runner in a Heisman race that tightened over championship weekend. Watson led the Tigers to key victories such as a 24-22 win over No. 8 Notre Dame (10-2), 23-13 over No. 9 Florida State (10-2), and 45-37 over No. 10 North Carolina (11-2) in the ACC Championship game. He had 1,847 yards and eight touchdowns rushing, 540 yards and four touchdowns receiving and 1,042 yards on kickoff returns.
From that vote, you get your three or four or maybe five finalists, and have a re-vote due the same time the Heisman vote is due now.
Alabama’s Derrick Henry, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson all made this year’s short list.
McCaffrey gained 3,496 yards in a bewildering array of ways, the most yards anybody has ever trampled on American fields in a college season, even after decades upon decades of college players straining to gain yardage. He has scored 13 touchdowns and thrown two TD passes. He would be Stanford’s first Heisman victor since Jim Plunkett in 1970. Granted, when talking about these three young men and their performances this season, it’s hard to go wrong with choosing any of them for the award. In 2010 and 2011, Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck placed second to quarterback Cam Newton of Auburn and quarterback Robert Griffin of Baylor, respectively.
“I’m not here to tell you that I know who the best Heisman candidate is”.
PRO POSPECTS: Watson is locked into college for one more season as a 6-foot-2, 210 pound sophomore.
Heisman voters also really love quarterbacks.
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“A year ago (this) Saturday night (Dec. 12, 2014), he was in the hospital having surgery, ” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.
