The Doctor’s Top 10 Heisman or Bust Watch for 2011!
By Editorial Staff
The so-called sports media experts last year already tagged Stanford’s Andrew Luck as the top candidate in the race for the 2011 Heisman. Even though Stanford only has a 76.9% winning percentage during Andrew’s tenure and he has only had one really good year, leading the Cardinals to a 12-1 record in 2010 but only 8-5 in 2009, because the sports pundits believe he is the most pro ready college Quarterback somehow they translate that into being the top Heisman candidate. Luck’s numbers in comparison to Kellen Moore’s are at best pedestrian, less than 6,000 yards passing and only 45 touchdown passes.
The days of mediocre stats winning the Heisman should be long gone, as well as, the need to be playing for one of the so called elite programs in order to be considered a viable Heisman candidate.
As much as I like Kellen and as much hype as is being given to Andrew Luck, in my humble opinion, the most bona fide Heisman Candidates for 2011 are players that are considered dual threats and anyone placed ahead of these players would need to pile up the kind of numbers Barry Sanders put together for Oklahoma State in 1988. Including the Holiday Bowl, Barry Sanders totaled 2,850 rushing yards (237.5 yards per game), 42 rushing touchdowns and for the season averaged 7.6 yards per carry.
Currently leading the list of dual threat players in the 2011 Heisman race are Quarterbacks:
- Denard Robinson, Michigan
- Stephen Garcia, South Carolina
- Taylor Martinez, Nebraska
- Russell Wilson, Wisconsin
With Kellen and Andrew, that gives us 6 of my Top 10 for 2011. The other 4 are the Cowboys from the Sooner State: Oklahoma State’s Quarterback Brandon Weeden and Oklahoma’s Quarterback Landry Jones, South Carolina Gamecock running back Marcus Lattimore and the Quack Attack’s (Oregon’s) ‘Super Duck’ running back LaMichael James.
Since I am putting out two lists I need to let you all know that the players listed above are in my opinion the leading candidates for this year’s Heisman. The second list is a ranking determined by my statistical analysis of Heisman candidates and may vary quite a bit from my Gut Feeling list. If this sounds confusing to you, don’t worry, it’s confusing to me too!
Rankings in both lists will be updated on a weekly basis in order to correct my mistakes from the previous week.
Top 10 Heisman List by the Doctor’s Gut Feeling
| Name | School |
POS |
Kellen Moore Boise State
QB
Andrew Luck Stanford
QB
Russell Wilson Wisconsin
QB
Denard Robinson Michigan
QB
Stephen Garcia South Carolina
QB
Taylor Martinez Nebraska
QB
Landry Jones Oklahoma
QB
Brandon Weeden Oklahoma State
RB
Marcus Lattimore South Carolina
RB
LaMichael James Oregon
RB
Top 10 Heisman List by the Doctor’s Heisman Rating System
| Name | School |
POS |
Heisman
Points
Denard Robinson Michigan
QB
0.963
LaMichael James Oregon
RB
0.890
Bobby Rainey Western Kentucky
RB
0.760
Doug Martin Boise State
RB
0.686
Bryant Moniz Hawaii
QB
0.685
Knile Davis Arkansas
RB
0.672
Kellen Moore Boise State
QB
0.637
Marcus Lattimore South Carolina
RB
0.636
Andrew Luck Stanford
QB
0.614
Darron Thomas Oregon
QB
0.599
Let’s see how the numbers stack up at the end of the year when the Heisman ballots are cast and counted.