The
Heisman Pundit recently named his Top 10 canidates for this years award, and I must say that I am really impressed with the fact that he has gotten the winner right the past two year. While I agree with some of his guys there are a few that I have a differing opinion. So without further wait, here is Dr. Sak's Top 10 Heisman Canidates.
1.
QB Brady Quinn, Sr, Notre Dame - Quinn plays for the more publicized school in the country right now and is the head of probably one of the top 2 offenses in the country. If he has a bad year he will still throw for over 3000 yards and over 20 tds. I believe that if Notre Dame is playing for the National Title, Brady Quinn will win the Heisman.
2.
RB Adrian Peterson, Jr, Oklahoma - Peterson will have to carry the load for the Sooners, especially early with the loss of QB Rhett Bomar. The maturation of Paul Thompson will play a key role in Peterson's heisman chances. If Oklahoma is able to pass the ball, it will not allow teams to stack the box and stop Peterson. Adrian must stay healthy, but even with all the injuries last year he still had over 1000 yards.
3.
RB Kenny Irons, Sr, Auburn - Last year at this time Irons was the third string running back for the Tigers. He ran for over 100 yards in each of the last six Auburn, which is a nice feat since the SEC boasted a lot of good defenses last year. One of them being Alabama at the end of the year. Irons will be the feature back again this year and should improve on his 1200 yards rushing.
4.
QB Troy Smith, Sr, Ohio State - For all intensive purposes, Troy Smith
is the reason Ohio State is ranked #1 in both polls. Smith got better as the year went on last year and had a great performance in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame. Many are comparing his skills to that of Vince Young. He has two games early that will be nationally televised (Texas & Penn State), that if he plays good in those it will vault him to the top of the Heisman list.
5.
WR Dwayne Jarrett, Jr, USC - WIth all the losses offensively, Jarrett and fellow WR Smith will be looked upon for production. QB John David Booty, although inexperienced, has been in the program for three years and was a blue chip recruit out of high school should be able to get Jarrett the ball. Jarrett will also benefit with having Smith on the other side of the field, so he will not receive the double teams. I can see Jarrett with a 1000 yard receiving year and 10 plus touchdowns.
6.
RB Marshawn Lynch, Jr, California - I am going to be honest I really didn't know much about Lynch before a few days ago. But in 10 games last year he rushed for over 1200 yards and with the strength of Cal's offense (and relative weakness of the Pac 10 defenses) he should have no problems surprassing those numbers. If Cal somehow beats USC, Lynch will get a huge boost with the Heisman voters.
7.
QB Chris Leak, Sr, Florida - Even though some Gator fans think Leak had a bad year last year, his numbers actually improved from the year before. Leak is on pace to have a 3000 yard passing year with over 20 touchdowns. His familiarity with Urban Meyer's spread-option offense should help him this year. If the Gators get through a tough SEC, Leak will be the one leading them but if they fall early expect Tiebow to come in and Leak's Heisman hopes to go bye bye.
8.
QB Brian Brohm,, Jr, Louisville - I was a little reluctant to put Brohm high up if even at all on this list since he is only 8 months removed from tearing his ACL. His mobility might not be back to 100% but his throwing is. He is one of the 5 best QB's in the country and he will have the opportunity to rack up some big numbers playing the the Big East. The big match up will be against WVU and if they come through that, Louisville and Brohm could potentially be looking at a National Title date.
9.
RB Steve Slaton, So, West Virginia - It was between him or Pat White to put on this list and White's lack of passing skills last year made my decision for Slaton a little easier. WVU will rely on both players but Slaton is an exceptional back. It will be a little difficult for him to win this award since he is a sophomore but people cannot over look 1100 yards and 19 touchdowns he had last season. WVU's schedule should allow him to rack up those yards close to 2000.
10.
LB Paul Posluszny, Sr, Penn State - It will be difficult for him to win the award but I wanted to include at least one defensive player in my initial top ten. Last year Poz became the first player to win Big Ten Defensive Player of the week for 3 consecutive weeks. He also won the Butkus and Bednarik last year. He is a little over 80 tackles away from being the All Time leader at Penn State for tackles, and if he reaches 100 tackles this year he will be come the first player in PSU history to have 3 seasons over 100 tackles. WIth all the great linebackers that came from Penn State he is the best one...according to Hall of Famer Jack Ham.
Honorable Mentions: RB Michael Bush, QB Pat White, QB Chad Henne, RB Jamaal Charles, QB Drew Weatherford, QB Kyle Wright
