College football, with all it’s bias toward the SEC, gave the Heisman Trophy to Alabama’s Derrick Henry. But the clear-cut best football player in college this year is Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey. The young man broke the 27-year old record for total yards held by Barry Sanders but came up Heismanless.
McCaffrey would have a chance to show the voters they made a big mistake last month and boy did he. And in the process, his victims would be the No. 4-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in the Rose Bowl. McCaffrey had 368 total yards and showed just about every skill a skill position player could have.
Of his 105 yards receiving, 75 of came on a touchdown where he showed his speed after the catch. On the one punt return he had on the day, he showed his elusiveness and speed for a 68-yard TD. And in the running game, he had his big runs but he also hit it up inside, showing to power in the process.
McCaffrey has much more than scat-back ability and the NFL scouts are drooling over him now. But the NFL will have to wait another year for him to come out along with LSU’s Leonard Fournette. Both players have a year to develop a little more but right now, McCaffrey looks like the better player.