Much has been made over the past few weeks, once the BCS started to go into the crapper, that we don’t have a clear Heisman trophy front-runner this year. For awhile, it was Stanford’s golden boy, Andrew Luck. Then it was Alabama’s bruising Trent Richardson. After that, the talk was all about 28 year old gunslinger Brandon Weedon from Okie State. Peppered around these mentions were LaMichael James, Montee Ball, Justin Blackmon, and so on. No one college football pundit seems to have their finger on just who should be leading the Heisman talk. And this helps perpetuate more Heisman talk about the fact that there is no leader for the Heisman. 

Sigh…

So, into this abyss I might as well cast my line, too. Not that I have any particular insight that people who follow college football for a living might not have. I’m just a fan who watched countless hours of football every week in the fall and occasionally likes to blather on about what I’ve observed. From time to time, I’ve been known to get lucky and be correct. 

The Heisman Trophy is awarded to “the outstanding college football player whose performance most exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.” In short, it’s awarded to the player who is the most outstanding college football player for that particular year. Not the most hyped. Not the player with the most wins. Not the best player on the best team. THE MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

That’s a broad definition, to say the least. What I might consider outstanding might be average or expected by someone else. For me, a player can be outstanding and not be on a top team. The Heisman is not a team award, although good leadership is certainly a quality of an outstanding player. 

Right now, if I had to pick five players that have impressed me the most this season, my list would probably go something like this:

Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor

Chander Harnish, QB Northern Illinois

Colin Klein, QB Kansas State

Montee Ball, RB Wisconsin

Kellen Moore, QB Boise State

These are the players I’ve been most impressed with this season and here’s why-

Robert Griffin III - Every time Baylor steps onto the field, no matter who they are facing, RGIII is likely the best football player out there. Playing on a team with next to no defense, he has been counted on to put up ridiculous numbers week in and week out just to win games, and he’s delivered. Even in Baylor’s three losses, he’s been stunning. If you had to pick a QB that could be inserted into just about any offensive scheme in the country and thrive, it’d be RGIII. 

Chander Harnish - Unless you’ve been taking in the hot MACtion on Tuesday and Wednesday nights recently, you might not know who Chandler Harnish is. But his numbers speak for themselves - 2600 yards passing, 1200 rushing, 32 total touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. He’s the only QB in the country to record a 200+ yard passing AND rushing game this season. In my book, he’s right up there with Robert Griffin in terms of versatility and competitive fire. Too bad he has no shot of being invited to the Heisman ceremony…

Colin Klein - 25 rushing touchdowns, 11 passing. Klein has accounted for 2600 of K-State’s 3762 yards from scrimmage this year. That’s 70% of their total offense. Not to mention all but 5 of their offensive touchdowns. If you watch a Wildcats game, all you see if Klein running and passing them to victory, time and time again. If that’s not outstanding, I don’t know what is.

Montee Ball - 30 total touchdowns. 30. 3-0. Add to that 1700+ yards from scrimmage and two 200+ yard games this year and you have another guy who at least deserves a mention in the Heisman race. 

Kellen Moore - Kellen Moore is this year’s Colt McCoy - a player who has had a spectacular career, is a consummate leader and competitor and puts up damn fine statistics. Too bad the Heisman isn’t a career award, because he’d have it just about locked up. Moore owns the NCAA record for most career wins. Has a total of 25 interceptions thrown for his career. In fact, of his three total losses for his career, the largest margin was three points. The other two games were lost by a single point. That’s how close he’s been to guiding the Broncos to four straight undefeated seasons. That is insane. 

This year, with a hodge-podge of receivers, he’s still thrown for 2915 with 35TDs and only 6 INTs, while completing 73.8% of his passes. He may not be the most athletic guy on the field, but because of his cunning, preparedness and smarts, he’s often the most imposing.