Ranking the Heisman Trophy Winners of the 00's

What changed in college football between 1999 and 2009? Somehow the Heisman trophy has transitioned to a Quarterback Club award, but is a quarterback the best Heisman Trophy winner of the decade?

To figure it out I crunched the numbers, the stats, the voting, the wins, and compared all ten Heisman winners. What I didn't do is take into account each players pro (or lack there of) career.

Here is how it turns out:

10. Eric Crouch, Nebraska QB - In one of the worst Heisman races of all time, Nebraska QB Eric Crouch defeated Florida QB Rex Grossman in 2001 to win the award. That season Crouch rushed for over 1,200 yards and passe for over 1,500. He added 18 rushing touchdowns, and 7 passing touchdowns to that mark. Crouch also lead Nebraska to the Rose Bowl where the Cornhuskers would fall to the Miami Hurricanes for the National Championship.

09. Jason White, Oklahoma QB - In a race that included the names Larry Fitzgerald, Eli Manning, Matt Leinart, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger it's pure honor for Jason White to say he won the Heisman Trophy in 2003. There's no denying the White put up the best numbers in the country in at QB in 2003, with over 3,700 yards passing, and a 40 to 8 TD to INT ratio. White's Senior status gave him the edge over Fitzgerald who had an NCAA record of 18 straight games with at least 1 touchdown catch, as well as close to 1,600 yards and 22 TD's on the season.

08. Carson Palmer, USC QB - Palmer play in 2002 lead USC back to prominence as a college football program. It's hard to argue that Palmer deserved the award in 2002, but his chief competition, Penn State running back Larry Johnson, ran for over 2,000 yards that season. Still, Palmers ability to bring a fledgling program back to the limelight helped him with the award.

07. Chris Weinke, Florida State QB - The 28 year old former minor league baseball player picked up the Heisman in 2000 after a close race with Oklahoma QB Josh Heupel, Purdue QB Drew Brees, and TCU RB LaDanian Tomlinson. Despite the still competition, it's hard to argue that Weinke didn't deserve the award, having lead the nation with 4,167 yards, as well as having a 33 to 11 TD to INT ratio. Heupel would go on to defeat Weinke in the National Championship Game that January, while Brees and Tomlinson would go on to have Pro Bowl careers in the NFL, spending their first five seasons as teammates in San Diego.

06. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma QB - In what was considered the best Heisman race of the decade, Sam Bradford edged out 2007's Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow, and Texas QB Colt McCoy. The race was so close, with Bradford coming in second for first place votes (behind Tebow), but racking up enough second place votes to give him the edge over 2nd place McCoy, and 3rd place Tebow. Though he would eventually lose in the national championship to Tebow's Florida Gator team, Bradford deserved the 2008 Heisman trophy. His 4,464 yards with 48 TD's and only 6 INT is incredible. On top of that he added 5 touchdowns on the ground. Bradford would never get the chance to defend his Heisman as his junior year was cut short by injury. He declared himself eligible for the NFL draft later that season.

05. Mark Ingram, Alabama RB - Ingram won the 2009 Heisman in the closest vote of all time, but his receiving the award was well deserved. Despite a list of finalists that included Nebraska NT Ndamukong Suh, 2007 Heisman winner and two time runner up Tim Tebow, 2008 runner up Colt McCoy, and Stanford RB Toby Gerhart, Ingram's performance as the best player on the best team in the country make him worthy of receiving the award. Though Gerhart had better rushing numbers, Ingram's performance in the SEC Championship game solidified him as the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner.

04. Matt Leinart, USC QB - Though it wasn't the best Heisman performance of the decade,
when I think of Heisman QB in the 00's my brain automatically shifts to Matt Leinart. Leinart beat out Adrian Peterson, defending Heisman winner Jason White, Alex Smith, and teammate Reggie Bush, for the award in 2004, and absolutely deserved it. Though he didn't light up the sky, Leinart threw for close to 3,000 yards with 28 TD's and only 6 INT's on the season. More importantly, Leinart became the first (and so far only) player to win the Heisman and the National Championship in the same season in the 00's.

03. Tim Tebow, Florida QB - A year after being an impact player on a national champion as a freshman, Tebow took over the NCAA and won the Heisman as a Sophomore, becoming the first underclassmen to ever win the award. In 2007 Tebow passed for 3,393 yards, 31 TD's, 7 INTs, with 838 yards on the ground, and 22 rushing TD's. Tebow's production in 2007 was astounding, and he'd carry his performance over to a national championship in 2008. Tebow's 2007 was so impressive that he beat out (by a large margin) Hawaii QB Colt Brennan who broke all sorts of NCAA records that season.

02. Troy Smith, Ohio State QB - In the most dominating Heisman poll of the decade, Troy Smith easily won the award in 2006. Smith passed for 30 TD's and just 5 INT's in 2006, while leading the Buckeyes to the national championship where the team would lose to the Florida Gators. Smith beat out Arkansas RB Darren McFadden, Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn, and Hawaii QB Colt Brennan to easily win the award. His Heisman win still stands as the second-most lopsided in the 75 year history of the trophy.

01. Reggie Bush, USC RB - The third Trojan to win the Heisman in the 00's, Bush was also (easily) the most deserving. His 1,658 rushing yards, 15 rushing TDs, 383 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns, 570 return yards, and 1 return TD were enough to top stiff competition from Texas QB Vince Young, Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn, and teammate and defending Heisman winner Matt Leinart. Bush's 784 first place votes were second only to Troy Smith's 801 in 2006 (a less competitive year for the trophy). Bush's performance was enough to make USC look unbeatable heading into that seasons National Championship, but the Trojans dynastic run would end that night at the hands (or legs I suppose) of Heisman runner up Vince Young's Texas Longhorn team.

The Heisman Race is Hot: Who Should Win vs Who Will Win

The thing about the Hesiman Trophy that makes it (arguably) both the most desired and "overrated" award in sports is that it's talked about, projected, and argued from offseason to offseason.

I'm not going to get into how I feel the media has ruined this award by projecting it's winner every June and trying it's hardest to make sure that projection becomes a reality. Instead I'm going to dissect this years candidates and explain who I think will win, who I think should win, and who I think shouldn't even be invited to New York.

Let's start with the guys who should get some recognition but won't; QB Case Keenum of Houston, DT Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska, and QB Kellen Moore of Boise State. It's no surprise that Suh will get little recognition despite being the best defensive player in the country. We all know the Heisman is a QB/RB award, and the last non QB/RB to win the award was CB Charles Woodson in 1997.

Keenum is a junior, but due to the fact that Houston isn't undefeated, Keenum has little to no shot. The 6 foot 2, 210 pound QB has 38 TD's to 6 INT's in 2009, with 4,992 yards so far. Those numbers are impressive. But if Colt Brennan couldn't win the award in 2007 while going undefeated, there's no chance for Keenum in 2009.

Speaking of Colt Brennan, this years version of him comes from Brennan's former rival, Boise State. As we all know, Boise State are undefeated and once again BCS bound. Part of the reason you can't deny this team a BCS spot is because of Sophomore QB Kellen Moore. So far in 2009 Moore has passed for 3,053 yards, 38 TD's and 3 Interceptions. Unlike Keenum, Moore is undefeated. Though it's likely Moore will be invited to New York City, since he's a Sophomore he won't win. Not with the other big names from big schools involved in the race this year.

Obviously the two big names from big schools that immediately pop in everyone's heads are Texas QB Colt McCoy and Florida QB Tim Tebow. So far this season, McCoy has passed for 3,326 yards, 27 TD, 9 INT, and 2 rushing TD's. Of course the Longhorns, one of the most visible programs in the country, are undefeated, this making this media darling even more probable to win the award.

But you can't say the phrase "media darling" without mentioning Gators QB Tim Tebow. Tebow's numbers right now look like this; 2,166 passing yards, 796 rushing yards, 17 passing TD's, 13 rushing TD's, and only 4 INT's. In case you're wondering though, these numbers are way down from 2007 when Tebow won the Heisman, and about even with his numbers from last year when he didn't win the Heisman, but won the national championship.

Tebow is a tough call to win the Heisman. He wins, he plays hard, and he obviously makes his team better. He did miss some time though, so honestly I feel as though he shouldn't win the award. McCoy on the other hand serves as a more interesting decision. Heading into the season McCoy was asked to improve, while winning the Big 12. A win this weekend and McCoy will have done everything asked of him to win the Heisman. A win and a huge performance this weekend, and the Heisman is his.

Tebow can win the Heisman as well this weekend, if he has a monstrous game against #2 (or #1B if you want to be fair) Alabama. If Tebow does as said, he will also essentially eliminate Alabama RB, and my current front runner to win the award, Mark Ingram from the competition. Ingram is having a great season thus far; 1,429 yards, 12 TD's, 246 rec yards, 3 rec TD's. Those numbers are particularly impressive in the SEC, but he's going to have to have a great game this weekend to hold onto the lead.

Ingram's decline may be due to the rise of Stanford RB Toby Gerhart. All Gerhart has done in 2009 is defy the laws of college football while rushing for 1,736 yards, and 26 touchdowns, Gerhart also ran for over 400 yards and 6 touchdowns combined in wins against USC and Oregon, two defenses that scouts and analysts both considered top 10 in the country. This past week against Notre Dame Gerhart ran for three and passed for one touchdown, en route to another 200 yard rushing game. It's important to note that of all the major Heisman contenders, Gerhart's strength of schedule was the most difficult, which is why he gets my vote for the Heisman.

Gerhart may not even finish in the top 2 running backs in Heisman polling though, because not only does Ingram have a big game this week, but so does Heisman sleeper C.J Spiller of Clemson. Spiller broke the NCAA record with his 7th kick return for a touchdown this season, en route to sending Clemson to the ACC Championship game. Spiller also has over 900 rushing yards and over 400 receiving yards thus far, and adds another 11 touchdowns to make his total 18 on the season. A big game, resulting in a Clemson win this week, and Spiller won't only be headed to the BCS, but also to NYC for the Heisman presentation.

So now that I've mentioned all the candidates, and who I think should win (Gerhart) let me now rank them as I see the media breaking it down; 1. McCoy, 2. Ingram, 3. Gerhart, 4. Tebow, 5. Moore, 6. Keenum, 7. Spiller, 8. Suh.

That's right, it's gonna be Colt McCoy.

Bama Get By Again

Tell me you weren't into Friday's Alabama vs Auburn game. I can pretty much guarantee everyone who watched the game was.

I'll admit, I flipped back and forth between that and the UFL Championship, but the 4th quarter (3rd Qt in the UFL game thanks to an awful half time show that would have made my High School's half time marching band look like Pearl Jam circa 1992) I was all Bama/Auburn.

Even when it was 14-0, didn't you still know that Alabama were going to win? It's nothing against Auburn, I feel like you have to respect them as a program, but Alabama didn't look like a team that was going to lose.

Maybe it's because we watched the Tennessee game a month ago. Remember that one? The blocked kick. I said to myself then that Alabama may have won the national championship that day (not that the Vols are Texas, Florida, or dare I say, TCU), and things look like that everyday.

I'm always a fan of the teams who win the close games against good teams. Alabama are that team in 2009. They've looked better in their wins, close games, and blowouts then Florida and Texas, and you can't say it's because teams get up for Texas and Florida more. Last I checked, Alabama was playing quality opponents in the beginning of the season while Texas and Florida were arguing which of their QB's is predestined to win the Heisman.

All Alabama has done since is produce the kid who should win the Heisman in 2009, RB Mark Ingram.

It was 5:50 on the East Coast when Alabama kept their playoff hopes alive. You know there were a lot of people in northern Florida who missed the early bird special tonight; not because of the time, but because they weren't hungry anymore.