Kirk Herbstreit names his five Heisman favorites for 2016
We have a long time before the 2016 season kicks off, but ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit is already thinking about the Heisman Trophy that will be handed out in December.
Herbstreit was asked on Wednesday about his thoughts on college football’s most prestigious award, which was won by Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015.
Here was his Twitter response:
He and D.Watson. But a big year for the trophy. D.Cook, Fournette, and Mayfield to name a few more. https://t.co/VprIDZ2PPm
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) January 20, 2016
So, to sort that out, we can assume that Herbstreit’s Top 5 (in not particular order) is as follows:
- Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey
- Clemson QB Deshaun Watson
- Florida State RB Dalvin Cook
- LSU RB Leonard Fournette
- Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield
After his revelation, Herbie was grilled by questions about players that he didn’t name.
One of those that provoked a response was Tennessee RB Jalen Hurd, which he responded to very positively:
I sure do. Big fan of his. Think he'll have a monster year in '16. https://t.co/V5gthEoJSn
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) January 20, 2016
Herbstreit didn’t go too far out on a limb with his choices, but they’re also pretty hard to argue against.
I am really surprised the Mcaffrey kid did not win it. The kid did everything from running the ball, reciever, return punts and kick offs, I even bet this kid could play defense. Just all around talent. Henry had the better team which got him the trophey.
It’s ridiculous for anyone to argue that Henry did not deserve it. If Bama had needed Henry to return kicks, he would’ve put up similar numbers doing so, but it would be ridiculous to put someone as talented as him in the return game. It would just risk injury. If Henry was playing in the soft pac-12, he might’ve been able to return kicks. But in the SEC, it’s just stupid to risk him like that. And if you’re still not convinced, Henry had 20 more touchdowns on the ground than McCaffrey. Even if you add in McCaffrey’s receiving and returning touchdowns (6 combined), Henry has 14 more total touchdowns. The comparison isn’t close. I would love to see McCaffrey take on an SEC schedule and try to put up the same numbers that Henry does.
Henry faced more top 10 overall defenses than McCaffery faced in the top 50!! Stanford only played 2 top 50 overall defenses & zero top 10. Northwestern with the 11th overall D was the top D McCaffery faced & NW shut him down on their way to beating Stanford.
In McCaffrey’s defense, NW played Stanford in the first game of the season, before Stanford learned how to really utilize McCaffrey. They utilized him, but later relied on him much, much more. That’s why he has such insane numbers. Had he touched the ball as much in the first game as he did in the last, for example, he’d have probably done better against NW.
Kenyan Drake was just as exciting as McCaffery even with his injuries. Do you think McCaffery could have done what nonetheless Drake did against SEC defenses? If you do, send me your address, I’ll email you my last beach front property I have available in Nebraska
Who gives a crap? It’s just a media driven popularity contest.
Agreed.