1- Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois, Quarterback
The past two Heisman winners have been dual threat quarterbacks, so why not continue the trend? While he may not be the polished passer that Robert Griffin III was, he is more polished than Manziel was, yet Manziel was given the prestigious award. His running ability is a bit less wild than Johnny Football, but overall, Lynch has just as much athletic ability. Lynch is a one man show at NIU and that became evident in the bowl game against Florida State. Despite that, Lynch finished seventh in last year’s Heisman voting and made the lowly program of Northern Illinois a ranked team. Although he played in the MAC, his stats are still jaw dropping. The Heisman is all stats based which is what clearly vaulted Lynch to seventh. Lynch accumulated a whopping 44 touchdowns (25 passing and 19 rushing) while only throwing six interceptions. To expand on that, he never threw more than one interception in a game, but he had nine performances in which he scored three or more times. Lynch also ran for 100+ yards and threw for 200+ yards on eight separate occasions. Surprisingly, he was able to put up 4,953 yards in that offense, even though he was surrounded by mediocre, at best, talent. Northern Illinois will be losing it’s leading receiver from last season, which puts even more pressure on Lynch to perform. Regardless, the athletic signal caller is primed for a Heisman campaign.
2. Brendan Bigelow, Cal, Running Back
Few players show a better combination of balance and quickness. His cuts are unreal and he isn’t a runner that’s easily tripped up. You have to take Bigelow head on if you want to tackle him, but that’s assuming defenders can even react quickly enough to get a hold of him. He gains the edge almost immediately and can turn it up field for a huge gain at any time. Unfortunately, Bigelow was stuck behind two seniors on the depth chart last season, but he will be the feature back in 2013. On his 44 carries, he totaled a stunning 431 yards, good for 9.8 yards per carry, and three touchdowns. Bigelow never got more than eight carries in a game last season, so it will be a treat to see how he fares as the starter.
3. Dri Archer, Kent State, Running Back
Archer playing for the Golden Flashes is a perfect representation of his play style. He is a “flash” around the field as he blazes past defenders and leaves them in the dust. Archer can get through a hole or around the edge before you even realize he has the ball. Catching Archer from behind is simply impossible, yet trying to stop him upfront is difficult as well. His cuts make him look like a blur and leaves defenders with broken ankles. Few players were able to dominate in such a fashion as Archer’s. He averaged nine yards per carry, 1,429 yards, and racked up 16 rushing touchdowns. Along with his phenomenal rushing stats, he also amassed 561 receiving yards and four touchdowns. You would think it ends there, right? Wrong! Archer also returned 17 kicks for 591 yards while taking three of them to the end zone for six points. Although, Archer isn’t an “every down back” and he never had more than 18 carries in a single game. There were even five games in which he had less than ten carries. While his stats are already incredible, he would need a heavier workload, which I think he can handle, if he wants to make a run at the Heisman.
4. Kenneth Dixon, Louisiana Tech, Running Back
Oddly, Dixon is Dri Archer’s polar opposite. Sit back and imagine a rhino in football pads and cleats. Essentially, you just thought of Kenneth Dixon’s play style and aggressive mentality. Dixon is a relentless freak once he gets the ball in his hand. He will fearlessly run at defenders, lower his shoulder, and set them on their backs as he runs right over them. He will also bounce off would-be tacklers left and right with what seems like no effort. Dixon broke the all-time freshman touchdown record (quarterbacks not included) with 28, 27 of which came on the ground. He was averaging roughly six yards per carry as the team’s featured running back. Dixon had four performances in which he pounded it for three or more touchdowns, including a six touchdown rampage against Idaho.
5. Cody Fajardo, Nevada, Quarterback
Just like Jordan Lynch, Cody Fajardo would continue the trend of dual threat quarterbacks taking home the Heisman trophy. Nevada’s offense is reliant on the read option, which allows Fajardo to rack up yards upon yards with his feet. Fajardo’s above average speed and elusiveness enables him to run off of the read option well and take advantage of gaping holes left open by defenses. As a passer, he is a bit raw and still clearly developing, but at the college level, it’s serviceable and is good enough to vault him into the Heisman race. Fajardo totaled 32 touchdowns last season with 20 of them being passing touchdowns and the remaining being rushing scores. He also had a total of 3, 907 yards, including 2,786 passing yards despite having an average, at best, receiving corps. Although these numbers may not be Heisman worthy, his potential is stunning and he is primed for a big junior year.
6. Stefon Diggs, Maryland, Wide Receiver
I know, I know, wide receivers don’t win the Heisman often, but this man is something special. His combo of speed, quickness, and agility is almost unreal. The way he can stop on a dime and get opposing defenders to completely whiff on him is almost super human. He will switch his direction while making three defenders miss him, yet for him, it looks so simple and easy. Once he gets in front of defenders, it’s usually game over. His speed is impressive and often leaves defenders staring at the back of his jersey. Maryland had quarterback troubles last year that restricted what they could do through the air, hence Diggs’ numbers being a bit less impressive than you’d expect. He was only able to muster up 848 yards on 54 receptions, including six touchdowns. He also took two kickoffs back for six points. With quarterback CJ Brown coming back from his ACL injury, the passing game will be opened up and Diggs will get his shot at stardom.
7. Rakeem Cato, Marshall, Quarterback
Unlike all the other quarterbacks on this list, Cato is a pocket passer that shows the potential to put up incredible numbers. Cato’s supporting cast was mediocre, to put it nicely. His running game gave him little support and his receiving corps didn’t help him at all either, yet Cato proves he can be an effective quarterback. His mechanics are solid, as is his his overall arm talent. On average, he only threw an interception once in every 58 attempts, yet threw a touchdown once in every 16 attempts. Cato had six 350+ yard performances along with eight games in which he had three or more touchdowns. Cato managed to win five games, despite the absolute mess he had as a supporting crew. By season’s end, Cato had a 69.5% of completion, 37 passing touchdowns, and 4,201 yards through the air.
8. Adam Muema, San Diego State, Running Back
While he isn’t overly impressive in a specific area like Archer and Dixon are, but he’s a well rounded back that will carry the load for any team he plays for, both present and future. He’s a hard runner with enough speed to separate himself from defenders in space. His cuts are smooth and can leave many defenders attacking thin air. He is not the bull that Kenneth Dixon may be, but he certainly possesses enough strength to withstand the average hit and merely blow it off and keep moving down the field. As he averaged over six yards per carry, Muema ended the season with 1,458 rushing yards and an impressive 16 touchdowns. His most thrilling performance was against Wyoming when he trampled over them for 255 yards and four touchdowns. With Walter Kazee, a senior in 2012, out of the picture, Muema should be seeing even more carries.
9. David Fluellen, Toledo, Running Back
Toledo’s offensive success relies on Fluellen’s ability to shred teams through the ground and force them to play softer coverages to open up the passing attack. His speed isn’t eye popping, but he’s a violent runner that runs with a purpose. His decision making and vision when choosing his hole is quite impressive. He finished the season with 1,498 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Fluellen had three 200+ rushing yards performances along with only three games in which he didn’t have 20+ carries. Fluellen is the backbone of their offense and will be forced to do it again next season.
10. Vad Lee, Georgia Tech, Quarterback
We all know that Georgia Tech primarily runs an unorthodox offense with their triple options and vertical passing. Fortunately for Lee, this fits his play style quite well. He has great vision and athletic ability for the triple option and a cannon arm to run their vertical passing. He skill sets makes him an absolute weapon in that offensive scheme. In 2012, Lee was only a freshman and spent most of his time riding the bench, but when given his time to shine, he did so very well. On 96 carries, he managed to run for 544 yards while getting in the end zone nine times. He also averaged over ten yards per passing attempt through his 56 total attempts. Lee will be the full time starter in 2013 and will be given his shot to tear up opposing ACC defenses with his array of talents.