Heisman heresy

The five finalists for the Heisman Trophy have been announced, and while I realize the Heisman doesn't seem to mean anything to anyone anymore (anyway, anytime, anywhere, anyhow), I still care about the award, if only for the reason that the voters get it wrong about as often as they get it right. Way too often, the Heisman goes to a player who was the leader on the best team in the country (Eric Crouch, Jason White, Troy Smith, to name a few). In pro sports, I believe an MVP voter should take the success of a candidate's team into more consideration. A guy from a playoff team should have a slight edge over a guy who missed the playoffs, because in the pros (for the most part), everyone is good. In college sports on the other hand, we come across all sorts of amazing players on teams that are not quite so amazing. And maybe they don't play as tough of competition as the Jason Whites of the world, but I would still prefer to see them recognized over him.

So I've been excited to see that Robert Griffin III of Baylor is projected to be the winner of this year's Heisman race. RG3 is the quarterback for the Bears, which in most years would be enough to count him out of the Heisman running before the season began. Not in 2011, though. Griffin's numbers are just too gawdy too ignore. RG3's stats this season: 3998 yards, 72.4 completion percentage, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions. Yikes. From looking over the finalists, in my mind there is no question Robert Griffin should win.

What's even more amazing though? If not for injuries, RG3 would have lost my Heisman vote to Oregon running back LaMichael James. James certainly benefits from playing in a high octane offense at Oregon, but even with missing a couple games this year, his numbers are unreal. On just 222 carries (70 less than last year), James rushed for 1646 yards. That is 7.4 yards per carry. That is ridiculous. To add to an already ridiculous running line, James averaged 12.4 yards per reception on the season. You can't help but wonder what those lines would look like had he been around for an entire season. Really, it's a travesty James wasn't invited to the ceremonies, considering his numbers are certainly better than fellow running back Trent Richardson, who had 40 more carries to make his mark.

Really, though, all of that is unimportant. All that matters in this Heisman vote is that Stanford QB Andrew Luck finishes no higher than third (fifth would be my preference, but that won't happen). Luck was a Heisman finalist last year but lost to a guy who deserved it, Cam Newton. As Luck has been lauded as the greatest NFL quarterbacking prospect since Peyton Manning ever since, his status as a great college football player has been inflated. Many "experts" have claimed that Luck is a shoe-in to take home the trophy. If that happens, it would be a disaster. Luck has been worse this season than last in every statistical category to measure quarterbacks other than TDs (35 this year, 32 last). If his season wasn't good enough to win last year, how can it be good enough this year.

If we're getting serious about it, Luck probably shouldn't have even received an invite to New York. Kellen Moore and Russell Wilson have both put together more impressive seasons at the quarterback than Luck has in 2011. They have better completeion percentages, higher yards per attempt fewer interceptions and higher quarterback ratings.

Andrew Luck may be all he's cracked up to be at the professional level. He may give the Colts 15 more years of unbelievable quarterbacking. But in 2011, at the collegiate level, he doesn't stack up. I don't have a vote, but hopefully those that do will use theirs wisely.