Even though I voted for Gerhart as a West-homer pick, I’d love to see Suh get it. He’s never failed to blow me away when I watch Nebraska games, and I watch Nebraska games just to watch him.
If a purely defensive player is ever going to win, Suh is the guy. He’s been great all season, and picked a PERFECT time to have his best game of the year.
It is an interesting year. If Only Gerhart or Suh were in it I would give that guy a decent chance. But with both of them they will split the "none of the other guys did it, so let’s go with “else” this time’ vote.
I’m putting slight odds on Ingram, but with the SEC loyalist vote split there is no one really in great shape.
Yeah I agree. But I wondering if we might end up with some wierd results because of it. Like some guy deciding, well my first choice won’t win so let me at least help the second choice. That kind of stuff.
Paul Finebaum is raising hell about several Southern voters leaving Ingram off the ballot altogether. :rolleyes:
Look, Finebaum, yes it sucks. Yes, it’s unfair. Yes, it makes them sad human beings, but get this straight:
FUCK the Heisman Trophy. Alabama has never won one, and I don’t give two runny shits if we NEVER get one. It’s a goddamn beauty pageant. A high-school popularity contest. It means NOTHING to us. If the Downtown Athletic Club, the big Stiff-Arm, the Heisman committee, and every Heisman voter in the country disappeared off the face of the goddamn planet, I wouldn’t care.
As long as our guys bring home the National Championship, and are unaffected by the utterly unimportant crapfest that is “Awards Season”, you can use the goddamn Heisman as a doorstop, for all I care.
FTR, I don’t believe anyone should vote for a player just because the voter and the player are from the same region.
It might be pollyanna-ish, but if I had a vote, I would vote for the 3 best players, no matter where they are located.
And I have changed my vote, based partly on last weekends performances…It would be Gerhart, Suh, Ingram.
Yep. Voters are under no requirement to vote for any particular player, nor even to have them on the ballot. Non-issue.
And hell, if I were voting for Heisman, I’d vote for Rolando McClain. According to ESPN, he has more total tackles, more solos, more assists, more forced fumbles, and more interceptions than Suh. Suh has more sacks, though.
Hell, even Ingram said he’d vote for McClain.
Suh is fantastic, but I think (with as much objectivity as I can muster) that McClain is better.
The stats you’re focused on are heavily slanted towards linebackers and defensive backs. Linebackers tend to collect more tackles than other defensive players – a quick perusal through ESPN’s season stats confirm this-- but Suh has more tackles than any other lineman. And how often do tackles intercept passes? It’s worth noting that despite being a defensive lineman, Suh is also in the top 100 in passes broken up – one of only two linemen to reach that plateau.
What other ways do you evaluate a defensive player (serious question)?
I would compare a defensive lineman with other Defensive Lineman. Not linebackers, not safeties, and not cornerbacks.
Just like I would compare a wide recievers pass receptions with other wide receivers.
I can’t believe Spiller only got my vote. Leads D1 with 208 yards from scrimmage per game, and has scored 11 rushing touchdowns, 4 receiving, 4 on kickoffs, and one on a punt return.
Oh, and he’s passed for one too.
I guarantee Suh will go ahead of him in the NFL draft. Obviously, that’s an unfair way to judge offensive players, but it works pretty well for defensive players.
Yeah, I know. I mean, for the purposes of determining “the best college football player”.
You could still do the like-position comparison as part of the overall picture. If player #1 is X% greater than all others in that position in all metrics, and player #2 is Y% better than all other players for a different position, you could look at those percentages as a gross comparison. Sure lots of potential for apples to oranges but it’s a start.
Courtesy Bump.
Heisman Trophy will be awarded tomorrow evening.
And the Heisman goes to:
Mark Ingram, Alabama
Congratulations
Roll Tide!
Ahem. 
Don’t mean I’m not proud of him for winning. Just means I care about the NC more. Besides, the meltdowns on the Auburn boards are fantastic.
Never understood the Heisman being that big a deal. Look at the pro careers of Andre Ware, Gino Toretta, John Capelletti, Archie Griffin…I wouldn’t want the silly thing.
simple answer: Heisman trophy is for college football players, not for potential pro careers.
Outstanding college players are frequently not the best pro prospects because skills that can be exploited in college are not that valuable in the NFL where the talent is incredibly deep.
Case in point. Tim Tebow, outstanding college player for three years, winning the Heisman in his sophomore year. I have not heard one favorable report on his potential as a pro-prospect. He had a set of skills that Urban Meyers and the Florida Coaching staff could exploit but basically those skills are useless against the size and speed of NFL defenses.