My Heisman Ballot

The biggest award night is here and the five finalists are in NYC, awaiting the big announcement. This field is as good as I remember recently. From the Heisman website:

"For the fourth straight year, two Heisman finalists will face each other in the BCS National Championship Game as Tyrann Mathieu will go up against Trent Richardson on January 9, 2012.

Montee Ball is leading the nation with 1,759 rushing yards as well as 32 rushing touchdowns for Wisconsin.  He holds second place all-time at UW with 60 career touchdowns and 54 career rushing touchdowns.  He has the opportunity to join two other Badgers in this elite fraternity: Ron Dayne (1999) and Alan Ameche (1954).   

Robert Griffin III has the opportunity to be the first player from Baylor to receive The Heisman Memorial Trophy. The junior quarterback is ranked second in the nation in total offense with 387 yards per game.  This season he threw 36 touchdowns and passed for 3,998 yards.  Griffin and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow are two of four players in major college history with at least 9,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing in a career.  

Andrew Luck is looking to be the second Cardinal to take home The Heisman Trophy after Jim Plunkett won in 1970.  The red-shirt junior passed for 3,170 yards and 35 touchdowns this season.  Luck leads the Pac-12 in passing efficiency with 167.5 and broke Stanford's records for career touchdown passes and single-season touchdown passes.  While leading the Cardinals to an 11-1 record, he rushed for 153 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.  

Tyrann Mathieu is looking to be the second LSU Tiger to win The Heisman Memorial Trophy after Billy Cannon won in 1959. The sophomore had 71 tackles, 5 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions this year.  He also gained 420 yards and 2 touchdowns in punt returns during LSU's 13-0 season.  If Mathieu wins, he will be the second cornerback to be inducted into this group of outstanding college football players joining Charles Woodson (1997).   

Trent Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards and had 20 touchdowns this season for Alabama.  In nine of his twelve games, the running back rushed for over 100 yards for the 11-1 Crimson Tide.  If awarded the Heisman, Richardson will only be the second player from Alabama to receive the trophy after 2009 winner, Mark Ingram, Jr."   

To me,  the decision comes down to RGIII or Mathieu. The Honey Badger is the definition of playmaker and certainly deserves to be in the running for the most outstanding player in the country. I think the fact he never really plays offense is going to hurt him, though. We love gamebreakers, but, deep-down, we prefer our Heisman to be on the offensive side of the ball. I think that's why I've gotta lean toward Robert Griffin. Thirty-six touchdowns in 4,000 yards passing? I'll take it every time. What's truly outstanding, though, is that he only threw 6 INTS and finished up with a disgusting 72.4 completion percentage. He might not be as pure of a quarterback as Luck, but he's been more exciting to watch.

If I had to rank the five, I'd go with:

1. Robert Griffin III
2. Tyrann Mathieu
3. Trent Richardson
4. Andrew Luck
5. Montee Ball