2015 Heisman Finalists: Who should Win?

The 2015 College Football regular season and championship weekend ended as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the Michigan State vs Iowa game. The final weekend didn’t bring too much chaos in terms of shakeups near the top of the rankings, but what it did bring was a last chance for the 3 heisman finalists to showcase their skills in big games.

Stanford RB/WR/KR Christian McCaffrey

If you haven’t heard by now, sophomore Christian McCaffrey had a historical 2015 campaign. He broke Barry Sanders all-purpose yards record that has stood since 1988 with a monstrous 461 all-purpose yard outing in the Pac 12 title game vs USC. McCaffrey now has 3,496 all-purpose yards on the season. If you want to put this season in perspective to the rest of the league, the next closest to McCaffrey has a total of 2,410 all-purpose yards. Thats over 1,000 yards on everybody in the league. He has been the guy for Stanford and has led them to a 11-2 record and a Pac 12 championship. Stanford has a Rose bowl birth vs #5 (12-1) Iowa on New Year’s Day at 5 pm ET on ESPN.

Alabama RB Derrick Henry

1,968. That’s how many yards Henry has got on the season so far. This Junior standout is a lock for a upper round pick at the very least if he decides to declare for the NFL draft. He has it all, the speed, the strength, the intangibles, just everything. His 23 TD’s are up there near the top in CFB. Yes, Alabama does have a stellar defense as always, but without Derrick Henry, this team wouldn’t be where it is today. Henry lead the Bama offense to a 12-1 record and a SEC championship game win over Florida. Alabama is the 2 seed of the college football playoff and faces the 3 seed Michigan State (12-1) on December 31st at 8 pm ET on ESPN.

Clemson QB Deshaun Watson

Watson has done it all for the Tigers this season, passing for 3,517 yards, 30 TD’s, and 11 INT’s. There’s no doubt he has been the leader of this offense as Clemson has rolled out 12 straight wins, including the ACC title game vs UNC. But has he even been the best player at his position this season?

Snubs

Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield

This guy is the definition of a leader. He has been the guy for everyone on that team to rally around. A true leader also backs up his talk and hype with great play on the field. Baker Mayfield has done just that passing for 3,389 yards, 35 TD’s, and only 5 INT’s. Mayfield has lead the Sooners to an 11-1 record, a Big 12 championship, and a College Football Playoff birth. Oklahoma faces off against undefeated Clemson on December 31st at 4 pm ET on ESPN.  Just let the video speak for itself.

Navy QB Keenan Reynolds

This guy is awesome. He can pass, run and lead, truly the ultimate College Football player. Reynolds brought Navy farther than anyone believed he could. Navy finished the regular season 9-2 and tied for first with New Year’s bowl bound Houson in the AAC West. Reynolds broke Montee Ball’s record for rushing TD’s in a college career. The Navy QB has ran for 83 TD’s so far for Navy with 2 games remaining left in his tenure. This saturday Navy has a home game in the annual Army vs Navy game. Then Navy goes to a bowl game to play Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl on December 28th at 2:30 pm ET on ESPN.

LSU RB Leonard Fournette

Fournette started the season on a monstrous tear through his first 7 games where the lowest rushing yards he gathered was 150. In that 7 game span he ran for 228+ yards three separate times. Since then, he hasn’t put up those crazy good numbers as he has ran for 31, 91, 108, and 159 yards since. Fournette has been a crazy good player but his lackluster play down the stretch is what kept him from a visit to New York. LSU finished the season with a 8-3 record and faces Texas Tech (7-5) in the Advocare V100 Texas Bowl on December 29th at 8 pm ET on ESPN.

Here is my Heisman top 5 ranking. (Take as much into this as you want because I don’t get an official vote anyway.)

1. Christian McCaffrey, Stanford RB/WR/KR
2. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma QB
3. Derrick Henry, Alabama RB
4. Deshaun Watson, Clemson QB
5. Keenan  Reynolds, Navy QB