|
National Football League
Draft King Analysis
October 31, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.
Happy Halloween everyone. As a public service, allow me to caution anyone going to see the film "Paranormal Activity" that it can trigger motion sickness. I'm feeling nauseous right now as I type this; sadly, I am quite sensitive to motion sickness. A heads up that I should take some Dramamine before the film would've been appreciated.
 | Tim Tebow may win a second Heisman Trophy in 2009. (Icon SMI)
|
|
Florida vs. Georgia is a great SEC rivalry, though the neo-puritanical types managed to scare school officials into not referring to it by its great traditional name: The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Hell, they managed to get Tennessee and Kentucky get rid of the Keg of Nails traveling trophy, so this shouldn't make me mad... but for some reason it does, particularly since the broadcast networks buy into it and bow to the pressure as well.
The talk on Nashville sports radio this afternoon is that Tim Tebow's performance against Georgia in the Cocktal Party game has him back in the Heisman running. That seems strange to me since Mississippi State exposed Tebow so bad last week in Florida's win in Starkville that it had people all over the place talking about Tebow's Heisman stock being down. College football is a "What have you done for me lately?" type of establishment. Doubt it? Consider how one-loss teams fare much better in consideration for a BCS Title game berth if they lost early instead of late in the season.
As far as the Heisman goes, my vote at this point (if I had one) would go to Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen, who came into today with only two interceptions on the year. Tebow, who won the Stiff Arm Trophy two years ago, will likely remain in consideration as long as Florida remains unbeaten. Sam Bradford's injury took him out of the race, but Texas QB Colt McCoy should get plenty of looks. And there are some championing Alabama RB Mark Ingram for the award, but he faces two big obstacles: he is a sophomore and he doesn't play quarterback.
To be sure, Heisman traditions have fallen in recent years with back-to-back sophomores winning the award in 2007 and 2008. But besides Reggie Bush in 2005, there hasn't been a running back to win the Heisman since Ron Dayne in 1999. Ingram is an exciting player, a strong running back with great speed, vision, and athleticism. But a sophomore running back winning the award? Not this year, at least I don't think it will happen. Regardless, Ingram will be a player to watch for the Heisman in 2010. Alabama has, amazingly enough, never had a Heisman winner.
One outsider making a run at Heisman consideration is Houston QB Case Keenum, who just today threw for 559 yards and five touchdowns in a shootout win over Southern Miss. The last non automatic qualifying conference player to win the Heisman was BYU's Ty Detmer in 1990. But if anyone outside of the power conferences has a chance to win the Heisman, it's the high-output Keenum.
I'm actively pulling for Oregon to beat USC tonight. No offense intended to USC, which is one of the great programs in college football, but I'm cheering for the teams around Boise State in the polls and BCS to keep losing and for Oregon (who lost to Boise State in week one) to keep winning. I want to see if there are voters who'd have the balls to vote for Oregon ahead of an unbeaten Boise State. Protecting the BCS Title game for automatic qualifier conferences seems to be a priority for some in powerful spots, and I want to see how far logic can be stretched to defend the status quo.
NFL Draft Prospect Profiles
Draft King is owned and operated by Lou Pickney. © 2003-2024, all rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, the views expressed here are those of Lou Pickney alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any media company.
|
